Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-09-08
| o|dup Probers Hunt
Mystery Witness
Boy Saw Robber
Flee From Bunk
In Alexandria

~@ NEt~S0A 80 49, NAAA4CAAeA4AN9
teen-aged boy who may UNI
Willingly hold a key to the $751;
900 holdup Of an Alexandria bank
yesterday was issued today by
police.
The boy was an eyewitness to
the escape of one of the two
bandits from the Burke & Her.
bert Bank & Trust Co. branch at
East Monroe street near the Po-
tomac railroad yards. He told
two other boys what he had seen
and then disappeared.
Alexandria Detective Sergt.
Russell Greenwalt, authorizing
the public appeal for police and
FBI agents working on the daring
robbery. said, I'VE need this boy
real bad"
The holdup was one of two in
the area yesterday. A raid on
a construction shack at WASH
ington Cathedral shortly before
noon Melted two other bandits
$2.132 in payroll money, after
they taped UP three construction
employees.
Saw Man Run Out
The boy being sought in Alex
andria is about IA or is years
old. He has brown hair. He
was sitting in a late-model green
and cream Chevrolet in a park
ing lot directly across from the
bank at the time Of the holdup
yesterday morning.
He saw a man run out of the
bank, hunched over, his shirt
front bullying, then dash across
the street to a station wagon
parked in the parking lot drive
way and drive away.
The boy told two other youths
in a nearby car what he had
seen and said. Something funny
lis going on at the bank" He
told them what he had seen.
BY the time police arrived
and began questioning persons
in the area the boy had gone.
His tale was told to police by
the two other youths, Austin
Foster and Bobby Wayne Hig-
gins of Fairfax. Va.
Police believe that if the boy
can be found his description Of
the bandits may furnish clues
needed to track them down.
Five Men Involved
At least five men appeared to
be involved in the two robberies.
Police said the two raids appar-
emily bore no connection to each
other. sgpa
The fifth man was believed to
be the driver Of the getaway car
which sped the two bandits from
the Alexandria raid.
Alexandria police broadcast a
lookout for the three men in a
black 1852 Buick sedan, in which
they are thought to have escaped
after abandoning a stolen sta
ton wagon five blocks from the
bank.
Roadblocks set up on roads in
the area failed to turn UP the
suspects last night.
Audit Conducted
FBI agents and bank officials
were conducting an audit today
to determine the exact amount
stolen. They put the figure ten
tatively at between $4,000 and
$26. 900.
The FBI was going over the
abandoned station wagon mi
nutely in search of fingerprints
or other evidence. The two bank
employees who saw the holdup
men were being shown police
file pictures of criminals in an
attempt to identify the bandits.
The getaway was to be re-
enacted today with witnesses
present. in hope one of them
might remember additional de-
tails.
In the Washington Cathedral
raid, two armed, well-dressed
men entered the construction
shack by using a key hidden
under the front steps. Police said
they apparently were well &C
quainted with operations at the
site and knew yesterday was .
payday.
The two tapped UP three
employees in the shack, gathered
UP bills from the table and fed,
all the while talking quietly and
without nervousness to each
other.