H'WEEN COSTUME WINNER

NOT A PURPLE WITCH HAT! AND AN EXPLODING DYE PACK? DRAMA FOR YOUR NERVES, GURL! (Can anyone verify Lypsinka's whereabouts on Hallowe'en?)

OLYMPIA, Wash. - A woman dressed as a witch robbed a bank and vanished in the smoke of an exploding security dye pack, then apparently reappeared in street clothes and held up another bank, police said.

The Halloween holdups were less than an hour apart at bank branches in Olympia and neighboring Lacey, authorities said.

The first robbery was reported when a woman wearing a shiny purple witch hat, cloak and long blond wig handed the teller a note indicating she had a weapon and demanding cash, Lacey police Lt. Phil Comstock said.

As the woman ran from the bank, the dye pack exploded and she dropped the money and her hat, authorities said.

Olympia police later received a silent alarm from a bank branch where witnesses said a woman handed the teller a note and escaped with an undisclosed amount of money.

Investigators were comparing images from surveillance cameras, but from witness descriptions "it looks like the same lady," Detective Samuel Costello said.