Troy Police have linked Thursday’s bank robbery here to a trio of robberies that occurred recently in Georgia and one earlier this week in Raliegh, N.C., giving detectives a new lead and a composite sketch of one of the suspects.

According to information from Police Chief Anthony Everage, the Thursday robbery of the Colonial Bank branch on U.S. 231 follows the same pattern of the robberies that occurred in Georgia ­ except that in this case the female partner apparently took the lead in the robbery.

"The suspect vehicle in at least two of the robberies in Georgia and the Troy robbery fit the same description," said Sgt. Benny Scarbrough in a written statement. "(And) what the suspect communicated to the bank teller in two of the Georgia robberies was also similar to what the female suspect communicated to the teller in the Colonial Bank robbery in Troy."

According to police, the Troy robbery took place about noon Thursday when a white female, described as being in her mid- to late-20s with blonde hair, entered the bank and demanded a teller turn over the money. "The suspect did not produce a firearm, but she did imply that she was armed," Scarbrough said previously.

After the teller turned over an undisclosed amount of money, the suspect left the bank and fled in an older model gray Toyota or Nissan pickup truck, driven by the male suspect.

Scarbrough cited "similarities in the M.O." in the Georgia and Troy robberies. "Robberies in Georgia were committed by a man (and a woman) who fits the description of the white female," he said.

The composite sketch, provided by Georgia authorities, is of the male suspect, who was seen driving the get-away vehicle in Troy. He was seen with a beard in Troy, police said, although he apparently did not have a beard at the time this composite was sketched.

"We’re investigating continually because if the did this in Georgia and Troy, it’s likely

they

may strike again," Scarbrough said.

Scarbrough said police are asking anyone who may have seen the suspects to contact the police department at 566-0500.