DATE: Thursday, September 11, 1997          TAG: 9709110689

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: JEFFREY S. HAMPTON,STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: HERTFORD                          LENGTH:   43 lines

2 SUSPECTS CAUGHT 2 HOURS AFTER BANK ROBBERY

Within two hours of a robbery at NationsBank on Tuesday, a dog with a fined-tuned nose tracked down two teen-age suspects .

Hertford police, FBI agents and Pasquotank County sheriff's deputies followed Marco, a Belgian Malinois, from the bank on Grubb Street just one block to the home of one of the teen-agers in the 300 block of Market Street.

Police arrested Travis Chapman, 19, and Jermal Oliver, 16, both of Hertford, at Oliver's residence about noon Tuesday, just two hours after the robbery.

Police found ski masks in a trash can outside the home, $600 in $50 bills, a 9-mm pistol allegedly used in the robbery and another $300 on Chapman, said Dale Vanscoy, interim police chief of Hertford.

Oliver was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon and Chapman was charged with aiding and abetting a robbery with a dangerous weapon, he said.

The pistol is of high quality and relatively expensive, Vanscoy said.

``They said they bought it on the street,'' he said.

This was the second armed robbery at the Hertford NationsBank since Jan. 10. No one has been arrested in the January robbery. Vanscoy said several agencies are still investigating.

``I don't believe they were local,'' he said.

If convicted, Oliver and Chapman could face a maximum sentence of up to 25 years. They are being held under a $100,000 bond at the Albemarle District Jail.

The Belgian Malinois is trained to lock onto certain types of scents, said Pasquotank County Sheriff Randy Cartwright. Once an officer points out a footprint or a piece of clothing, Marco can track the scent across most terrains, including concrete or asphalt.

Tuesday's rain helped keep the scent close to the ground, Cartwright said.

The Elizabeth City Police Department gave the 8-year-old dog to the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Department two years ago. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

About the Dog Marco

For complete copy, see microfilm KEYWORDS: BANK ROBBERY ARREST NORTH CAROLINA

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