Jan. 31, 2002 – Police were continuing to search across St. Croix Thursday night for the man who held up the Bank of St. Croix in Gallows Bay around 12:30 p.m.
Uniformed police officers and undercover agents converged on the bank within minutes of the holdup, the first of a bank in the territory this year, but the robber made his getaway.
Speaking to news media representatives outside the bank, Police Chief Novelle Francis said the gunman was the only "customer" in the lobby at the time of the holdup. "He approached the teller closest to the door," Francis said, and "slipped her a note indicating he was HIV positive and that he had a bomb."
When the man handed the teller a pouch and asked her to hand over money to him, "She complied with his wishes, handed him an undetermined amount of cash which contained a security ink device, and at the same time activated the holdup alarm," Francis said.
The man was seen heading on foot toward the Gallows Bay post office, he said, and "within minutes of leaving the bank, the ink security devices began to explode, causing the ink material to spill onto the man’s hands and clothes."
Two persons were picked up for questioning in connection with the heist but were later released. The area around the bank was cordoned off for hours as the search for the suspect continued.
The Bank of St. Croix was expected to reopen for business on Friday.
The suspect was described by police as a Caucasian male wearing a khaki cap pulled down over his face, a white and burgundy striped shirt and khaki pants.
Francis asked that anyone with information about the incident contact the police by calling 778-2211, ext, 4530 or 4531.
