Police arrest 2, seek 1 in Richmond bank robbery

Richmond police arrested two males and were looking for a third after authorities said the trio robbed a West Broad Street bank and then crashed into a house while trying to escape.

The incident began about 2:33 p.m. yesterday after police responded to a report of a robbery at the M&T Bank at 3124 W. Broad St., police spokesman Gene Lepley said.

After two armed men robbed the bank of an undisclosed amount of cash, they and another man were seen leaving in a Nissan Maxima. The robbers then apparently abandoned that vehicle on North Boulevard in favor of a gold Chevrolet Suburban, Lepley said.

At one point, officers spotted the Suburban and pursued it down South Meadow Street, over the Downtown Expressway and into the Randolph neighborhood. The Suburban tried to make a left turn at Appomattox Street, but Lepley said it veered into the front porch of a home in the 1200 block of South Meadow Street. The vehicle then rolled a short distance before stopping.

The three men jumped out of the vehicle to flee. Two suspects were quickly arrested. The third suspect remained at large last night.

Lepley said police recovered some of the stolen money at the scene.

Ernestine Harrison was inside her home when the vehicle slammed into her front porch, knocking down two support columns. The Suburban also struck her car, which was parked on Appomattox Street, before crashing into her chain-link fence.

"It was a terrible situation," said Harrison, who has lived there since 1967.

After the crash, she saw three young males run through the alley behind her house.

"I heard the most incredible crash, like an explosion," said Claudia Jemmott, a neighbor.

Lepley said officers from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th precincts helped arrest the suspects and were even assisted by an off-duty officer working a funeral. The names of the two men arrested were not immediately released.

Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or .