THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996 TAG: 9602170304
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
The bank robbery was in Virginia Beach, but two of the suspects were hundreds of miles away when a trooper with the New Jersey State Police made a traffic stop Thursday afternoon.
By Friday three people were in custody in two states in connection with a Thursday morning robbery at a Laskin Road bank.
At about 4 p.m. Thursday, New Jersey State Trooper Stephen Mahoney arrested Christopher F. Cipolla, 23, of the 3000 block of Sandfiddler Road in Virginia Beach and Andrew Richardson, 25, of the 200 block of W. 31st Street in Norfolk. They were charged with three counts each of robbery and abduction.
A third suspect, a 17-year-old Virginia Beach man, is also in custody in Virginia Beach. His name is being withheld because he is a juvenile. He is charged with three counts each of robbery, abduction and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and one count of entering a bank while armed.
Charges against a second juvenile thought to have been involved in the robbery were pending Friday afternoon.
Police think the four suspects robbed the First Union Bank at 1630 Laskin Road in Virginia Beach at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
Police say two of the men hid in bushes near the bank and surprised employees as they reported for work. They forced their way into the bank and locked three employees in the bank vault.
After the New Jersey trooper stopped the car for speeding, he became suspicious when the driver presented him with suspicious identification.
A large amount of money was found in the carand the serial numbers showed the money had come from the Laskin Road bank.
Cash from the robbery also was found in both juveniles' homes in Virginia Beach.
Anyone with additional information about the robbery is asked to call Virginia Beach Crime Solvers at 427-0000.
KEYWORDS: ROBBERY ARREST BANK by CNB