Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 3, 1991 TAG: 9103030232
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium
Jerry Lee Brewer, 35, of Lynchburg, Thomas William Robinson, 36, of Pawleys Island, S.C., and Tina Marie O'Mera, 33, of Salem, were arrested shortly after noon Friday in the parking lot of Brewer's apartment building.
Lynchburg police and the FBI said the three are believed to be involved in as many as six local bank robberies and another in Greensboro, N.C.
Brewer and Robinson were charged with holding up the Cave Spring branch of CorEast Federal Savings Bank off Virginia 419 in Southwest Roanoke County. All three were charged with conspiracy to commit bank robbery, said FBI Special Agent Dave Burch, supervisor of the bureau's Richmond office.
Officials declined to say how much money was taken and whether any money or weapons have been recovered.
The three were taken from Lynchburg to Roanoke, where they were being held pending a hearing before a federal judge.
Two of the suspects denied robbing the banks.
"No, I didn't [rob the banks]. 'Cause I just got out of jail for robbing a bank," Robinson told reporters while being led to a van to transport him to Roanoke.
"No, we didn't. We have no idea what they're talking about. We're just their scapegoats," O'Mera said.
The string of bank robberies began Jan. 25 when a lone gunman robbed Bedford Savings & Loan in Forest. Another lone gunman, dressed similarly to the Bedford robber, held up First Community Bank on Feb. 15.
The CorEast branch in Roanoke County was robbed Monday. Two men wearing ski masks and brandishing pistols entered the bank and demanded money. They fled on foot. Later that afternoon two men, also wearing ski masks, robbed a Central Fidelity Bank branch in Lynchburg. The robbers also fled on foot.
Staff writer Neal Thompson contributed to this story.
by CNB