THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 5, 1994 TAG: 9411050661
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA AND PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
A pistol-wielding man who robbed an Elizabeth City bank of an undisclosed amount remained at large late Friday afternoon.
Police continued to search into the evening for a male in his mid-20s who robbed First Citizens Bank shortly before it opened for business Friday.
A bank official described the man as about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing about 145 pounds, with shoulder-length black hair and Hispanic or Asian features.
The man followed an employee into the Ehringhaus Street bank about 8:30 a.m. ``They weren't in the bank long - not more than two or three minutes,'' said Elizabeth City Police Capt. W.O. Leary.
The man took off in a teller's 1994 green Thunderbird and left it in the nearby Farm Fresh parking lot, Leary said. Police searched the surrounding area, including two neighboring apartment complexes, for more than two hours.
``We think he's fled the area,'' Leary said.
No one was hurt in the robbery, First Citizens spokesman Chris Bubin said from corporate offices in Raleigh.
Local firefighters and a Navy bomb squad from Norfolk went to the scene after a small box left by the robber was suspected of containing a bomb.
``It didn't contain any explosives,'' said Police Capt. W.G. Williams Jr., who declined to list the box's contents.
Police were withholding details of the incident during the search for the suspect, Leary said.
A large section of the Holly Square Shopping Center, where the bank is located, was blocked off with wooden sawhorses and yellow police tape because of the bomb threat.
Bank employees remained on the scene through much of the morning, talking with police.
Some 30 police and fire officials worked at the scene throughout the day, including the city police and fire departments, Pasquotank County Sheriff's deputies and State and Federal Bureau of Investigation officials.
Business at a nearby Burger King restaurant and Winn-Dixie supermarket continued as usual, despite the parking lot detours.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Elizabeth City Police, the FBI or SBI, or Crime Line at 335-5555.
KEYWORDS: ROBBERRY BANK by CNB