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BREAKING NEWS — Bank Robbery in Ballston

by ARLnow.com | May 30, 2012 at 9:55 am | 6,138 views | 49 Comments

(Updated at 11:00 a.m.) A man has been arrested after a robbery at a PNC Bank branch in Ballston.

The PNC Bank at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and N. Glebe Road was reportedly robbed around 9:45 a.m. According to police, a black male in his early to mid 20s — who was wearing a purple and red wig, a yellow shirt and sunglasses — entered the bank and passed a note to a teller demanding money and claiming to have a gun.

With the money in a zebra-striped Harris Teeter shopping bag, the suspect fled into an alley and was seen changing his clothes by a witness, who immediately called police. A dye pack embedded in the stolen cash exploded and the suspect — seeing a witness following him — then started running to the nearby Ballston Metro station, leaving the money behind, according to police.

The suspect was arrested without incident by an Arlington patrol officer at 9:51 a.m., just outside the Metro station, only five minutes after the witness first called police, according to department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. The suspect had only $6 on him at the time of his arrest.

Sternbeck hailed the arrest as an example of police “working with the citizens of Arlington County” to quickly solve a crime. He noted that police don’t necessarily encourage witnesses to follow criminals, but said that the witness in this case “maintained a safe distance” between himself and the perpetrator and alerted police immediately.

Update at 3:00 p.m. — Police have identified the suspect as 26-year-old Nathaniel Rush of College Park, Maryland

The PNC Bank in Ballston was robbed Wednesday morning

Outside the Ballston Metro station, where a bank robbery suspect was arrested Wednesday morning

Evidence in an alley outside the PNC Bank in Ballston

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Arlsouthsidehoodie

Summer’s here!
- http://asdf abc
  
  WooHoo! Love summer in Arlington!
WeiQiang

Did dude try to cash a $500 check?
- MC 703
  
  $50 check. $50 check.
Nicely done

Well done errrbody.
South Awwlington

Doesn’t it seem like we have a disproportionate amount of bank robberies? Or don’t they even make the news in Alexandria, Fairfax, DC?
- USA
  
  Well, this IS an Arlington site. I never read about Arlington bank robberies in the WashPo or see any on TV, just on here.
  - South Awwlington
    
    I do read several hyperlocal publications as well as TV news. I just don’t seem to hear about bank robberies in other places nearly as often as Arlington. I am wondering if there is something that makes banks in the ARL an easy target is all.
    - Aaron
      
      DC, suburban Maryland, and the rest of NoVA have been victimized as well; along with most sexual assaults, bank robberies are just well below the threshold of interest for the Post to report.
      
      If you really care, read the Washington Examiner. There are probably a half dozen bank robberies covered each week.
Arlington, Northside

That customer deserves a HUGE reward, but will probably just get stuck with some sort of a fee from the bank.
- SteamboatWillie
  
  Haha. Well done.
novasteve

By disguise are they referring to groucho marx glasses or a hoodie?
- DarkHeart
  
  Possibly LeBron James faux intellectual rims.
  - Tre
    
    because basketball players are dumb
    - Josh S
      
      Do you know what he’s referring to?
      
      It’s all the rage now at NBA press conferences to wear large spectacles. No matter what the adjective is, the adverb is still “faux.”
      - nom de guerre
        
        Mo faux…
- nom de guerre
  
  “who was wearing a purple and red wig, a yellow shirt and sunglasses” Perhaps if he had chosen khaki cargo shorts, polo shirt with popped collar and brown flip flops he might have had a better chance of getting away.
  - WeiQiang
    
    Would have been dang near invisible. Even the cameras wouldn’t have picked up the image.
Southeast Ben

Can’t wait for a name to be posted and Arlnow readers attempt to locate his/her LinkedIn profile to post.

Odds of suspect having a LinkedIn profile for this crime have to be Zero.
- MC 703
  
  No bank robber likes garlic THAT much
MC 703

Finally. Was growing so tired of character assassination and new Shirlington businesses.
- South Side Chris
  
  Correction MC 703, new probable future Shirlington businesses. Those places get built out at a speed that makes me think the rent is free. The Pho place was announced March 12 on VillageShirlington and still no soup for me.
- Richard Cranium
  
  But, you have to admit, the stories of masturbating DARPA drones never get old.
JohnB2

ArlNow: The face of one of the potential witnesses isn’t blurred out in photo #3, the guy standing next to the tall blonde cop. He has a keycard on his belt so I’m thinking he’s not a cop.
- MC 703
  
  Gary Coleman lives!
- SomeGuy
  
  JohnB2, suspects are always fair game for exposure and ridicule on ArlNow. Witnesses and victims are also fair game, but only sometimes. This could be one of those times. It varies. Just roll with it, brah.
- http://www.arlnow.com ARLnow.com
  
  We believe he’s law enforcement.
  - Andrew
    
    He’s wearing either a pink shirt or tie…doubt he is law enforcement.
    - WeiQiang
      
      Undercover, brah
      - Aaron
        
        Possibly a liaison/outreach officer.
Douglas Parker

I wonder if he was going for the green line?
BreakPause02

Metro’s infrequent train service does have at least one benefit!
- j
  
  seriously, he would have better luck just waiitng the 30 minutes for 22A to Pentagon.
Southeast Ben

The chick in photo #2 must work out. Her arms are jacked.
- DarkHeart
  
  Looks a little blurry.
- Me
  
  That’s Lynn ..the building manager. LOL I work in this building
  - Bizzle
    
    I see her everyday…her arms dont look that massive in real life!
billj

Holy crap, I had just walked my dog past there about 5 min before hand!
- South Side Chris
  
  Did you really walk the dog or did you just walk next to it? I tried operating my dogs legs for it once and the results were sub-optimal.
  - billj
    
    You also tried writing a punny reply to someone’s post, unfortunately the results were sub-optimal.
  - billj
~T~G~EOA

I can think of several ways to encourage a teller not to include a dye pack. What is wrong with kids critical thinking these days?
Andy

The capture happened right outside my office window. The cop happened to be there, writing tickets to two drivers that had gone up Stuart St. past the “Buses Only” sign, when the witness ran up to the cop’s car and pointed out the suspect waiting at a bus stop. The cop gets out and arrests the suspect. Classic.
- Joe
  
  I am flat-out stunned that this happened as it did. First, that a police officer was bothering to write tickets to the two drivers–although it IS the end of the month.
  
  But 2nd, that the officer actually followed through on the witness’s alert and then acted quickly to arrest the suspect. That is simply amazing, given what I typically see in terms of ACPD behavior.
  - CommonCents
    
    Because you’ve caught a lot of bank robbers or done anything half as significant in your life. I’m flat-out stunned that you weren’t one of the drivers driving up Stuart street.
Undereducated

Perp’s name and photo on Patch now.
- Clarendon
  
  Thanks for that tip – patch has the funny stuff:
  
  “The suspect had evidence of red dye on him and he looks up at the officer and utters the words, ‘You have the wrong guy. I didn’t rob a bank.’ Something along those lines. And this is without the officer saying anything about a bank robbery,” Sternbeck said.
JMoney

http://www.facebook.com/janus8686
His facebook page?
LeaderOne

Great to see everyone work together and catch the guy that quick!

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