LUMBERTON — A woman robbed a bank in downtown Lumberton on Monday afternoon, and in an unrelated case a man in jail awaiting trial for bank robbery was charged with a second bank robbery.

A woman armed with a handgun came into the Wachovia bank at 2775 N. Elm St. at about 4:55 p.m., according to a Lumberton Police Department report.

The woman, whose face was hidden by a bandana, ordered the customers and employees in the bank to put their hands up, threw a bag across the counter, and told the tellers to empty out their trays, the report said.

She fled with an undisclosed amount of money in a white Buick Lesabre that she had stolen during a home invasion at a house on Barker Street before the bank robbery, police said.

Nobody was injured in either incident.

The robber is described as a black female, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, with a stocky build. She was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and a plaid coat.

Anyone who has any information on the woman should call Lumberton police at (910) 671-3845.

In the separate case, a Maxton man who was arrested and charged earlier this month for a bank robbery in Pembroke has been charged with robbing a Maxton bank in 2007, according to the Maxton Police Department.

James Brian Collins, 41, of 353 Lacy Road, is accused of robbing First Bank in Maxton on Nov. 28, 2007, according to statement from the Police Department. The statement said that information provided by the Pembroke Police department led to the new charge. Collins’ bond was increased from $100,000 to $200,000.

According to Pembroke police, Collins walked into the Lumbee Bank in Pembroke on Nov. 5 and handed the teller a note saying he had a gun and to give him $1,200 and “nobody will get hurt.”

Collins was arrested shortly after the bank robbery after a vehicle and foot chase, police said.