Bank Robberies

The man suspected of being a serial bank robber nicknamed "Speed Racer" just wasn't fast enough - he was chased down by a 240-pound restaurant owner and former soccer player who tackled and held him after a robbery in Ellicott City on Wednesday. Luvine A. Summers Jr., 30, of Reisterstown was being held by federal authorities yesterday, charged with robbing the Provident Bank branch in the 9300 block of Baltimore National Pike, said FBI Special Agent Michelle Crnkovich. His capture could clear as many as a dozen bank robberies in at least three counties, she said.

The number of bank robberies last year plummeted almost 70 percent in the center of Baltimore -- where many banks are concentrated -- and city police are attributing the drop to improved communication between businesses and officers, increased security and news of high arrest rates.Bank robberies in the city as a whole also fell last year, but less dramatically -- 13 1/2 percent, from 133 in 1996 to 115. Such robberies were up in four police districts. The biggest increase was in the Northern District, from six bank robberies in 1996 to 32 last year.

A man who Baltimore police suspect committed nearly half of the city's 21 bank robberies this year was arrested after a chase through downtown yesterday, ending a manhunt for a robber who demanded money using notes instead of guns. Police said the suspect - identified as Elmer H. Warfield, 36 - is the brother of a top police commander in the city's Northwestern District. A department spokesman said detectives interviewed the commander, Deputy Maj. Nathan A. Warfield, and are confident that he knew nothing of the robberies.

Baltimore broke its 13-year-old record for bank robberies yesterday, a dubious milestone in a year that has seen bandits flocking to Maryland banks and bank officials scrambling for solutions."

Back in the bad old days of brazen bank robberies, stickups were carefully crafted by gangs of thieves, marked by precision timing, well-positioned lookouts and tire-burning getaways.Not anymore.There's a different breed of stickup men on the streets of Baltimore, which set a record for bank robberies this year. Most of the bank robbers of the '90s are fresh out of prison, hooked on crack and heroin, and not very smart, authorities say.When Alexander Manigault hit a Signet bank on Belair Road several years ago, he passed a note to a teller that could have come straight from a Woody Allen movie script.

Baltimore County police and the FBI Bank Robbery Task Force are looking for suspects in several recent area bank robberies. County police are searching for two young men who they say robbed two banks last month. The afternoon of Dec. 27, the suspects robbed the Chevy Chase Bank in the Giant Food market in the 1700 block of York Road, Lutherville. According to witnesses, the robbers handed a note to the bank teller demanding money, took the cash, and fled the area. On Dec. 30, the same suspects robbed the Provident Bank in the 1200 block of Eastern Boulevard, Essex, police said.

FBI agents are investigating a possible connection among three Anne Arundel County bank robberies in the past two weeks -- two of them on successive days, county police and the FBI said.In each incident, witnesses gave law enforcement officials similar descriptions of the robbers.Officials said one suspect is between 20 and 25 years old, 6 feet 2 inches to 6 feet 4 inches tall, about 240 pounds with a dark complexion. The other suspect, officials say, is between 19 and 23 years old, 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, 150 to 160 pounds with a light complexion.

Authorities believe they have identified a note-passing bank robber who struck two banks yesterday in Montgomery County, and linked him to robberies in Baltimore and Howard counties. Montgomery County police said yesterday they were seeking Christopher Michael Cline, 28, in connection with two bank robbery incidents in the White Oak area of Silver Spring. In the first incident yesterday, a man was unsuccessful in his attempt to rob Chevy Chase Bank in the 11200 block of New Hampshire Ave. Shortly after 10:30 a.m., he passed a note to a teller demanding money and implied he had a weapon, but the teller did not have a cash drawer.

Robbers armed with nothing more than threatening notes held up four Baltimore banks yesterday, moving the city to the record-breaking levels of 1993 that sent worried bank executives scrambling for solutions.Two banks were robbed in the suburbs -- one in Howard County by a woman who claimed to have a bomb, and one in a Baltimore County mall by a man who hinted he was armed.The city holdups -- three at NationsBank branches -- pushed the number of Baltimore bank robberies to 50 this year. The worst year was 1993, when 116 holdups were reported.