Woman doesn't interrupt her cellphone chats while robbing banks

WASHINGTON — When it comes to multitasking, it's hard to beat the woman who can rob a bank and never interrupt her cellphone conversation.

A woman has robbed four Wachovia bank branches in Northern Virginia in recent weeks, all while seemingly immersed in cellphone chats.

A video from the most recent holdup, on Nov. 4, in Ashburn, shows a teller handing a stack of cash to the woman, while she's on the phone, even as she walks out of the bank.

"This is the first time that I can recall where we've had a crime committed while the person was using a cellphone," said Loudoun County sheriff's spokesman Kraig Troxell. "The question would be whether anyone is on the other end of the line or not."

No one was injured in the robberies, and the amount taken was not disclosed. The cellphone bandit — a woman in her 20s with dark hair — first struck in Vienna, Va., on Oct. 12. She went to the teller counter and displayed a shoebox-size container with a note taped on it demanding cash. Police would not disclose the wording of the note.

As in the other robberies, the woman exchanged few or no words with the teller, apparently busy talking to someone else. She scooped up the cash, and kept talking while walking out.

In the most recent robbery, however, she had a gun, Troxell said.

She carried a purse and opened it to show the gun to the teller, Troxell said. Then she handed over a note demanding cash, still apparently chatting on the cellphone, Troxell said.

The tellers haven't been able to hear much of the conversations, police said. Troxell said the chat from the robber's end Nov. 4 was mainly a bunch of "OKs."

On Oct. 22 during the third robbery, in Springfield, the woman spoke briefly to the teller, Fairfax County police spokeswoman Mary Mulrenan said. "She was well-spoken, in English, with a light Hispanic accent," she said.

If she's not conversing with a conspirator, investigators have theorized, she could just be using the phone as a prop.

"Is she talking to someone," Troxell said, "or using it to make herself look less noticeable or nonchalant as she approaches the teller?"

Police are investigating cellphone usage in the vicinity of the robberies at the time they were committed but have not identified a suspect. Material from Reuters is included in this report.