GATE CITY — Authorities in Scott County arrested a female suspect Thursday in Big Stone Gap in connection with a robbery that occurred the day before at the BB&T Bank in Duffield.
The Scott County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Police said Tabitha Nicole Sullivan, 27, Main Avenue West, Big Stone Gap, was arrested and charged with robbery.
The Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been assisting Scott County investigators with the case.
The woman reportedly took just over $1,000 in the robbery.
Surveillance video taken from one of the two banks the suspect entered Wednesday showed the woman wearing sunglasses and a surgical mask over her face with her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was also wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt with a light blue “DC” logo on the front and pink medical scrub pants.
Authorities believe the woman carried out the robbery without an accomplice.
The incident happened at approximately 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at the BB&T branch located at 466 Duff Patt Road, Duffield.
Although other customers were inside the bank at the time, no one was injured in the incident, authorities said.
According to police and witness accounts, the woman presented a teller with a slip of paper asking to give her unmarked bills without dye packs.
The woman told the teller that a car containing a bomb was parked outside the bank.
After receiving the money, the woman walked to her car in an adjacent parking lot before turning onto Highway 58.
Prior to visiting BB&T, the woman went into Powell Valley National Bank, which is also located in Duffield, in an attempt to open an account there.
Both the BB&T branch and Powell Valley National Bank were temporarily closed Wednesday as authorities gathered evidence and carried out their investigation.