Surveillance footage courtesy of Durham Police Department.

Police this week announced that an unarmed woman has robbed four banks in the Bull City since late last year.

The most recent heists happened last month.

No one has been injured during the four robberies, police reported.

Investigators say in each instance, a short Black woman with a thin build walked into the financial institutions and handed a teller a note demanding money. 

The woman, outfitted in a face mask and sunglasses, fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The first robbery took place last year, on October 5. Police say it was about 9:46 a.m. when the woman walked into the SunTrust Bank in the 5700 block of Fayetteville Road.

Days later, at 10:13 a.m. on October 23,  the masked bandit hit the Wells Fargo Bank in the 4700 block of Hope Valley Road.

Nine months passed before she struck again. It was just before 2 p.m. on July 14 when police say she robbed a First Citizen’s Bank in the 4000 block of North Roxboro Street.

Less than a week later, at 4:56 p.m. on July 19, police think she hit the Truist Bank in the 5400 block of South Miami Boulevard.

In addition to sunglasses and a face mask, the woman robber wore various pieces of headgear, including a baseball cap, a pale-green outback hat, and a toboggan. During one heist, she was caught on surveillance footage wearing what appears to be a curly black wig.

Memories of the 1996 film, Set It Off, and the real-life 2007 “Barbie Bandits” notwithstanding, bank robbery remains a male-dominated crime activity.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, women accounted for a little over six percent of bank crimes across the United States last year, including robbery, burglary, and larceny.

Of the 1,724 bank crimes reported by the FBI last year, women were named as suspects in 119 of the incidents. 

Durham investigators are asking anyone with information about the Bull City robberies to contact J.S. Smith at (919)560-4440 ext. 29365 or Durham CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200. Callers never have to identify themselves and could be eligible for a cash reward. 

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Follow Durham Staff Writer Thomasi McDonald on Twitter or send an email to tmcdonald@indyweek.com.