ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 17, 1997 TAG: 9704170078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The man is thought to be the same person who committed a string of robberies in Richmond and Chesterfield County.
A judge denied bond Wednesday for a suspect in 14 bank robberies who brandished an Uzi at police during a wild chase through suburban streets and along Interstate 64.
Investigators say they believe Val Keith Yuen is the ``stealth bandit,'' who calmly robbed a string of Richmond-area banks without displaying a weapon, then smoothly disappeared, often on foot, as police closed in.
Police forced Yuen to stop his car on I-64 about 25 minutes after a bank robbery in Richmond's westernmost suburbs, then closed the interstate for 40 minutes to inspect what they believed was a bomb in the car.
Yuen was charged in Henrico County with Tuesday's robbery of a Jefferson National Bank branch and the Dec. 20 robbery of a Crestar Bank branch.
Police say Yuen also robbed six banks in the city of Richmond and six more in suburban Chesterfield County since March 6, 1996. No one was injured in any of the holdups.
Richmond authorities will seek direct indictments against Yuen for the six robberies in the city, said Richmond police spokeswoman Brenda Hughes. There was no word Wednesday about Chesterfield County's plans for Yuen.
The ``stealth bandit'' got his nickname from his reputation for strolling into banks, handing tellers notes demanding modest sums of money, then making small talk with the tellers as they complied. He never displayed a weapon, and coolly walked away afterward with only the teller aware that the bank had been robbed.
On Tuesday, however, Yuen left the Jefferson National branch around 2 p.m. with an undisclosed amount of cash, and two witnesses saw him hop into a car, police said. About 10 minutes later, police saw a car matching the witnesses' description about 5 miles from the bank and tried to stop it.
The car sped away, turned onto I-64 and headed west into Goochland County. It made a U-turn at the Rockville exit, then raced back into Henrico County where an unmarked police car forced the suspect off the road.
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