Man pleads guilty to Virginia Beach bank robberies

VIRGINIA BEACH

A man shot by police in April after a Bayside bank heist pleaded guilty in Circuit Court on Monday to more than a dozen charges, including four counts of armed robbery and two counts of entering a bank while armed, the commonwealth's attorney's office said.

Tracy Lavern Mills, 39, robbed the same Wachovia on Independence Boulevard twice - first on Jan. 11 and again on April 22, after which he drove a car toward an officer and was shot, police said.

Mills underwent surgery, police said.

Police said they linked Mills to the Jan. 11 robbery based in part on teller interviews and the robber's footwear - a pair of maroon boots.

Mills also pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of wearing a mask in public, assault of a law enforcement officer and four related firearms charges, the commonwealth's attorney's office said. He will be sentenced Jan. 9.