ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701240083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FINCASTLE
A Botetourt County man pleaded guilty Thursday to the 15-second robbery of thousands of dollars from a branch of the Bank of Fincastle in September.
He also pleaded guilty in Botetourt County Circuit Court to wearing a mask to conceal his identity.
David Ray Martin told police on the day of the robbery that he was the man who bolted into the Daleville bank, leaped over a low door and emptied three tellers' drawers full of money into a bag, Detective John Mandeville of the Botetourt County Sheriff's Office testified.
"It just looked so ridiculous," assistant branch manager Lorraine Hubbard testified. "I couldn't believe we were actually being robbed." She was on the phone when she looked up and saw a tall, lanky figure zipping across the bank lobby wearing cut-off shorts, a T-shirt, latex gloves, and a ski mask over his eyeglasses.
Sandra Craft, a teller at the bank, said the figure looked familiar to her. Martin, it turned out, was an occasional customer at the bank.
"Oh my God, Jeff, we're being robbed," Hubbard said to Jeff Bowles, bank vice president, who was on the other end of the phone. It was Bowles who notified police.
In all, Martin grabbed $4,110 and fled on foot into the brush behind the bank, testimony revealed.
A few minutes after the robbery, Deputy Jeff Blesser found Martin on a road behind the bank. Blesser testified he pulled out his shotgun and told Martin, who was about 75 yards away, to stop.
Martin took off running, leading Blesser on a chase through shoulder-high briars and brush, during which Blesser twice leveled his shotgun at Martin and told him to stop and put up his hands, Blesser said. In the thick brush, he said, Martin's hands were not visible, so he didn't know if Martin had a weapon or not.
"He came real close to getting shot," Blesser said.
When Blesser finally caught him, he said, Martin was bleeding from nicks and cuts all over his body. A short time later, Blesser found a bag in the brush containing the money from the bank.
Martin asked for a lawyer right away, Mandeville said, but later asked to speak to the detective. That's when he confessed, Mandeville testified.
Martin, scheduled to be sentenced in March, remains free on bond.
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