The cases against a man accused of helping rob three banks in Fairfax County and two in Loudoun County are moving forward in the legal system. He is Geoffrey Rogers, 41, of 2805 Washington St., Paducah, Ky.
HE AND CO-DEFENDANT Ronald Michael Young, 35, of 8668 Burton Parrish Court, No. 204, in Manassas, were arrested April 16, 2006, after allegedly carjacking an SUV in Manassas. The owner's relatives called Prince William police, who pursued the pair and captured them when they crashed the vehicle.
In addition to that crime, however, police believe the two men committed the following 2006 robberies:
* March 17 - 10:30 a.m., United Bank, 13060 Fair Lakes Shopping Center in Fairfax.
* March 28 - 1:44 p.m., BB&T Bank, 13821 Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy. in Chantilly.
* March 30 - 10:30 a.m., Virginia Commerce Bank, 13881 Metrotech Drive in Chantilly.
* March 30 - 11:38 a.m., BB&T Bank, 43365 Junction Plaza in Ashburn.
* March 30 - 1:03 p.m., Provident Bank, 46910 Community Plaza in Sterling.
"Rogers is believed to be the bank robber, and Young, the getaway-car driver," said Fairfax County police spokesman Rich Henry shortly after they were apprehended. In each instance, bank employees at first mistook Rogers for a customer, said police, until he reportedly told them, "This is a robbery."
Police didn't reveal the relationship between the two men, nor why Rogers was in Virginia. But Fairfax County police Det. Gary Bailey presented some details of the bank-robbery cases against them in an April 24, 2006 affidavit for a warrant to search Rogers' car, a 2000 Toyota Camry.
Bailey described the March 17 offense at United Bank and the March 28 robbery at BB&T. While investigating the latter crime, he wrote, "Witnesses advised that they saw two white males sitting in a red, four-door sedan prior to the incident."
After the March 30 robbery at Virginia Commerce Bank, wrote the detective, a dye pack in the money the robber received went off as he fled. And, he added, "The subject was seen running from the area."
Later that day, two more banks were robbed — this time, in Loudoun County. Wrote Bailey: "Surveillance photographs [of the robber] from all five banks were compared and appear to be the same individual."
Police continued to investigate the serial robberies and eventually connected Rogers to a red Toyota Camry, with Kentucky license plates, that had been recently abandoned at Dulles International Airport in a daily parking garage.
Bailey wrote that, when he questioned Rogers and Young, "They both [allegedly] confessed to their respective involvement in the robberies. Young admitted to driving the red Toyota Camry to and from the robberies within Fairfax County."
THE DETECTIVE stated that Rogers reportedly told him he'd ridden in that car to and from these robberies and is its registered owner. Added Bailey: "Rogers also confessed to robbing each of the banks in Fairfax County."
Last Monday, Jan. 29, in General District Court, Judge Michael Cassidy certified the three, Fairfax County, bank-robbery charges against Rogers to the grand jury for possible indictment.
Rogers was indicted in Loudoun County by its Aug. 14, 2006 grand jury and is scheduled for jury trials there on March 27 and April 23. Young was indicted Oct. 10, 2006 in Loudoun for his charges there and was slated to stand trial this week.