Crime & Safety

Authorites Looking Into Possible Connection Between Pine Brook and Woodbridge Bank Robberies

FBI investigates seven heists with possible links.

The description of a suspect in the Aug. 2 bank robbery at Bank of America on Route 46 West in Montville matches that of an individual suspected in another robbery Wednesday at Soveriegn Bank on Rahway Avenue in Woodbridge.

According to the FBI's BanditTracker, authorities are looking for a white male in his late 20s or early 30s, approximately 5'10", wearing a stocking mask with eyeglasses underneath and a white baseball cap.

The suspect in the Montville robbery also is described as a white male in his early 30's, approximately 5'10", with a stocking cap, eyeglasses and wearing all black. In this robbery, the suspect did not wear a baseball cap.

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Law enforcement sources who could not be named because they were not authorized to speak about the string of robberies said the Woodbridge case is being coordinated by the FBI in connection with at least six other bank robbery investigations in the state, including the one in Montville.

Excluding Montville and Woodbridge, the other five cases include a robbery July 28 at Lakeland Savings Bank, 321 West Main St., Boonton, a robbery July 23 at Kearny Federal Savings, 487 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, robberies July 8 at Mariners Bank, 242 Oradell Ave., Paramus, and Bank of America, 392 Route 22, Whitehouse and a robbery June 25 at Wachovia Bank, 1080 Broad St., Bloomfield. The latter three list the suspect as wearing all black, but with a baseball cap, not a nylon sock.

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In all the cases, according to BanditTracker, the suspect enters the bank with a handgun and demands cash.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at (973) 792-3000. The FBI urges the public to refer to the BanditTracker for more information on the robberies.

Check back to  Montville Patch as we continue to track this story.


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