Henderson daily dispatch., 1935-06-05
.BankRObber
Eludes TraD
OF Deputies
Got 1,5OO at Alberta
and T h e n Came
Through Hender-
son on His Flight

! A lone bank robber who held up the
| bank at Alberta, Va. around the noon
/ hour yesterday and made off with 81 -
| 500 was encountered by deputy sher-
/ ifs here yesterday afternoon on the
| national highway north of the city.
| but the man got away from the Of
/ ficers while passing through the citv
! and no further trace of him had been
| found today.
Deputies Cottrel, Peck and Reed
went out on the national highway
| north of the city after notification
had been given here from Alberta
that the robber was headed this way.
They encountered man in a car that
completely fit the description and
gave chase. They came alongside the
car and ordered the man to hold I'D
his hands. He threw up one, and as
the officers were coming down the
steep incline in the highway beyond
GreystOne, they attempted to put on
brakes to slow down with the rob-
Der car. But Cottrell. who was driv-
ing. didn't have as goou brakes as
The robber. and the latter stopped first
and then put on all his car would give
and passed the officers after thew
had slowed down They chased him
on into the city and the rohber car
IAN through short portion of the
North Garnett street construction pro-
jeCt C1os5ed tho railroad Just inh
side the city limits The officers con-
tinued the chase, down the unpaved
portion of North William street. At
Rock Spring the fugitive turned east
and there his trail was lost
Following is a story from Alberta.
Va. scene of the robbery. as taken
from the Richmond Times-Dispath of
today, the story being under last
nights date line from Alberta
Alberta. June A lone bandit held
up the Bank of Alberta early this
afternoon. forced teller 20 place be-
tween $1.50O and $17OO in a brief case
he carried and escaped toward the
North Carolina line as his victims
amptied a volley of rifle shots at his
car.
State, local and county police thro-
1ghout Eastern Virginia and North
Carolina were immediately notified
IF the hold-up-the third in this little
town since 1919--and furnished with
descriptions of both the bandit and his
automobile
The man was said to have been
sighted about o'clock this afternoon
toned on all roads leading into the
city failed to apprehend him.
RObber Is WeII-Dressed
The bandit was described as we'll
dressed white man of about 80 years
five feet 10 inches tall and weighing
about 165 pounds. The machine he
was driving was new Ford coupe
with tan body and red wheels. and
bearing Tennessee license. 2O-926
The automobile was believed to car
y several bullet holes asa result of
the fusillade fired by two hank en-
oloyees while the car was still less
than rs yards away.
This was the second bank robbery
n Virginia in the last eight days: the
Bank of Fork Union. in Fluvanna
county. havinc been looted of more
han $4,000 a week ago last Monday.
The loss today was considerably less
han on the twoo previous robberies
lere. The bank is fully covered by in
,urance, officials declared.
Three persons were in the bank at
The time of the holdup: M S. Barrow
president and cashier; Meade Finn,
assistant cashier, and Spencer Barrow
'5-year-old son of the president.
Mr.. Finn was at the rear teller's
window when he saw the stranger
; drive up and enter the bank at about
'245 o'clock this afternoon.
II greeted him as he came to the
Window" Mr.. Finn said. "and then I
saw him reach down to his side. Sud
lenly he flashed a gun and said. "This
is a stickup. l want your money
II guess I must have acted sort of
!umb-I was startled enough. certain
y-because he told me a second time:
This is stickup Give me youl
| money
Cash in Vault Saved
Mr.. Finn was ordered to remove
| he money from the cash drawer and
place it in a leather brief case which
| he intruder held in one hand. In the
,ther, he held what appeared to be a
IS automatic.
The man appeared nervous and i'm
patient throughout the two or three
minutes it required to empty the cash
| drayer.
"What about the money in the
1ault?" he asked
"It's under time lock. We can't get
20 it," Mr.. Barrow told him.
"Okay, this will have to do then. y
With that he strapped shut the bag
md ran through the front door to his
waiting automobile
AS he did so Mr. Barrow and Mr..
Tlinn grabbed rifles, ran to the front
ioor. and fired several times, but ap-
| parently inflicted no injury on the
driver.
Query ROuses Suspicion
/ An interesting detail was furnished
by zeke Peterson, Negro filling sta
ton employee on the highway near
here, who told of an earlier conver-
sation with the hold-up man this
morning.