Black Hat Bandits Strike Again: Gun-Toting Robbers Hold Up Falls Church Bank

FBI PHOTOS: Jan. 2 Robbery in McLean; Jan. 16 Robbery in Fairfax; Jan. 20 Robbery in Vienna, and Jan. 30 Robbery in Arnold, Md.

________________

A trio of bank robbers who the FBI is calling the “Black Hat Bandits” robbed a bank at gunpoint Monday afternoon in Falls Church in what investigators say they think is the eighth such robbery.

The FBI released photos and a detailed description of the suspects in the robbery of the Wells Fargo Bank Monday. For the full announcement and larger photos, visit the FBI’s Wanted Bank Robbers webpage.

The robberies are likely a three-man operation, with one man driving a getaway car while two rob the bank, the FBI said after Monday afternoon’s robbery in the quiet city of Falls Church, a D.C. suburb. Monday’s robbery did provide police with two new clues to the robberies: The likely presence of a third accomplice driving a getaway car, and information about one of the robbers: police also took impressions of a shoe footprint left in the snow during the getaway.

The FBI is calling the robbers the Black Hat Bandits because they are dressed in black hats; they also wear ski masks and/or fake beards. In addition to carrying guns, they’ve been brazen enough to point a gun at a customer during a holdup of a Vienna, Va. bank and also hopped the teller counter, according to the FBI.

Here’s what happened Monday: At approximately 12:42 p.m. on Monday, March 2, the Black Hat Bandits robbed the Wells Fargo Bank located at 1000 W. Broad St., in Falls Church.

The two subjects were armed and described as males in their early 40s, between 5’7” and 5’9” in height. Both subjects were dressed in all black, with black ski masks covering their faces. There were no injuries sustained.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $30,000 for information that leads to the identification, arrest and conviction of these bank robbers.

The FBI and the Falls Church, Virginia Police Department are investigating this robbery and request that anyone with information call the FBI at 202-278-2000 or Falls Church Police at 703-241-5053. To see a listing of all bank robbers wanted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, visithttps://bankrobbers.fbi.gov.

Here is the suspected Black Hat Bandit trail of eight robberies, according to the FBI, committed between Jan. 2 and March 2, 2015:

• On Friday, Jan. 2, 2015, at approximately 10:50 a.m., a white male robbed the Bank of America located at 1369 Chain Bridge Road in McLean. The subject, wearing a partial facial disguise, entered the bank, brandished a weapon and robbed the bank.
• On Friday, Jan. 16, 2015, at approximately 3:17 p.m., two males entered the BB&T located at 8416 Arlington Blvd., in Fairfax and robbed the bank. One of the subjects brandished a firearm and demanded money from the tellers. The subjects fled on foot and entered a parking garage behind the bank.
• On Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, at approximately 2:53 p.m., two males entered the Bank of America located at 235 Maple Avenue West in Vienna and robbed the bank. Both subjects brandished weapons. One subject demanded money from the bank tellers. The subjects fled on foot to a nearby vehicle headed in the direction of Church Street.
• On Friday, January 30, 2015, two men robbed the Essex Bank located at 1460 Ritchie Highway in Arnold, Md. Both subjects entered the bank carrying handguns. One robber was wearing a dark overcoat, sunglasses, a wide-brimmed black hat, a long fake beard and scarf. The other robber was wearing a dark ski jacket, white and black scarf covering his face and dark pants. After robbing the tellers, the subjects fled the bank in a nearby vehicle.
• On Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015, a white male subject entered the SunTrust Bank located at 3070 Leonardtown Road in Waldorf, Maryland, carrying a handgun. The subject was wearing a dark overcoat, sunglasses, a wide brimmed black hat, long fake beard and scarf. Witnesses described him as being about 5’8’ tall, in his early-to-mid forties. The robber took the case from the teller and fled to a nearby vehicle.
• On Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015, at approximately 3:12 pm, two subjects robbed a BB&T Bank located at 440 East Maple Avenue in Vienna, one was described as White male wearing all black with a black mask covering his face. Subject two was described as a Black male wearing all black with a black mask covering his face. Both subjects were carrying handguns.
• Forty minutes later at 3:56 pm, the two subjects robbed the Wells Fargo Bank located at 47040 Community Plaza in Sterling. The subjects were again described as wearing black ski masks and all black clothing. One of the suspects put his gun to a customer’s head while demanding everyone to “get down,” and demanded money from a victim teller. In both robberies the subjects fled the banks with an undisclosed amount of money.
• On Monday, March 2, 2015, at approximately 12:44 pm, the Black Hat Bandits robbed the Wells Fargo Bank located at 1000 W. Broad St., in Falls Church. The two subjects were armed and described as males in their early forties between 5’7” and 5’9” in height. Both subjects were dressed in all black with black ski masks covering their faces. There were no injuries sustained.