Police search for "cell phone bandit"

Police in Virginia have issued warrants for the arrest of a 19-year-old woman who robbed four banks while talking on her cell phone.

Candice Rose Martinez, a.k.a. "the cell phone bandit," started her hold-up spree on Oct. 12 at a Wachovia bank in Vienna, Va. According to reports, she walked into the bank with a box under her arm and a cell phone to her ear. The box contained a note demanding cash, which she presented to a teller while appearing immersed in a phone conversation.

"As in the others, the robber exchanged few or no words with the teller, because she apparently was busy talking to someone else. She scooped up the cash, started walking and kept talking," The Washington Post reported.

In her last heist, on Nov. 4, she flashed the teller a gun, which she carried in her purse.

Sociology professor Fred Desroches, who is writing a book about bank robbers, offered the Post several theories for the phone. "Maybe because she's a woman, she feels less secure physically, and by talking to somebody, it makes her feel secure," he said, adding "Maybe she's talking to her mother."