Teenage Bank Robber Paints on Facial Hair to Rob Bank

Nov. 16, 2011— -- A 14-year-old arrested and charged this week in the robbery of four banks and two convenience stores during a three-week crime spree painted on facial hair and a tattoo during at least one robbery, police said.

The teen, who is not being named, is charged with robbery, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit robbery.

He was arrested along with Christopher Wilson, 32, in Fayetteville, N.C., on Monday. Wilson is being charged with conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Earlier Monday, the teen robbed a bank after painting on a goatee and tear drops mimicking a tattoo, police said.

In addition to working with Wilson, the teen also allegedly had an accomplice in Wilson's 21-year-old nephew, Marvin Cummings. Cummings is being charged with robbing four convenience stores, two of them with the juvenile. Cummings was arrested on Nov. 2, the same day that the juvenile allegedly robbed the first of four banks.

During the convenience store robberies, the juvenile and Cummings would enter the stores together, police said. However, during the subsequent bank robberies, the juvenile would enter alone and hand a note to the cashier demanding money, they added.

In an interview with ABC News affiliate ABC 11 the juvenile's grandmother, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke about her concern for her grandson.

"After this week, he will become a number. In society, he will become a nobody," she told ABC News 11. "You don't want that for your child, for your grandchild. It was a shock. It was a shock to all of us."

While the Fayetteville police are still investigating the crimes, the teenager's grandmother believes they could be related to a gang known as Fly Boyz at his high school. Although her grandson had previously stolen bikes and shoplifted socks, she said, she was shocked by the severity of his alleged recent crimes.

"Deep down, we knew, you don't go from being a petty thief to this big-time criminal," she said.

Gavin MacRoberts, of the Fayetteville Police Department, says that the age of the juvenile could make him particularly vulnerable to outside pressures.

"I think for a lot of kids it's an impressionable age," said MacRoberts.

MacRoberts cited a department report showing juvenile offenses by 13-year-olds in the region totaled 585 from 2007 to 2010, while similar offenses by 14-year-olds during the period were nearly double, at 1,015.

Wilson and Cummings were being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center. The juvenile is also being held there, but in a separate area from the adult inmates.

Wilson is being held on a $600,000 bond.