DATE: Friday, October 17, 1997              TAG: 9710170636

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   45 lines

POLICE BELIEVE TWO ROBBERIES IN CHESAPEAKE ARE UNRELATED

Two banks were robbed this week in Chesapeake, according to city police.

Two men held up the NationsBank in the 1100 block of George Washington Highway in Deep Creek at 9:35 a.m. Thursday, said police spokesman Dave Hughes.

A different man robbed the Bank of Tidewater in the 1300 block of Greenbrier Parkway in the new Greenbrier Market Center at 11:25 a.m. Tuesday, Hughes said.

Police don't believe the two hold-ups are related, Hughes said.

``This isn't a rash of bank robberies, but it's out of the ordinary for us,'' Hughes said.

Although witnesses could not provide detailed descriptions of the robbers, police said neither of the two men who robbed the NationsBank looked like the man who robbed the Bank of Tidewater.

In Thursday's robbery, two men carrying handguns told NationsBank employees to lie down on the floor. There were no customers at the bank. One man jumped over the counter and grabbed an unspecified amount of money, Hughes said. Both men then ran away.

No one was hurt, Hughes said. NationsBank was closed the rest of the day.

In Tuesday's robbery, an unarmed man placed a bag on the counter at the Bank of Tidewater and gave a teller a note marked ``Robbery.'' He told the teller he was ``serious'' and demanded money, but he never displayed a weapon, Hughes said. The robber then fled with the cash. He was seen leaving the area in a dark blue, late-model Ford Explorer.

No one was injured, said Bank of Tidewater president Betsy Duke.

Bank officials declined to disclose how much money was stolen in either robbery.

Bank robberies are on the rise in Hampton Roads, according to the FBI. Southeastern Virginia set a new record for bank robberies during the past federal fiscal year.

There were 73 bank hold-ups during the annual period ending Sept. 30, according to FBI statistics. In this study, Southeastern Virginia includes the area of Gloucester south to the North Carolina border and west to Franklin. MEMO: Anyone with information about these or other crimes is asked to

call Chesapeake Crime Line at 487-1234. KEYWORDS: ROBBERY

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