Hawthorne NJ police have arrested two men who are believed to have committed a local bank robbery.
The theft incident occurred around 4:00 p.m. at the TD Bank located on Lafayette Avenue in Hawthorne, New Jersey. According to witnesses, one of the suspects entered the bank and handed a note to a bank teller. The note reportedly demanded that the bank employee hand over cash.
Once the suspect had an undisclosed amount of money in his possession, he fled the bank and got into a black Mitsubishi.
By the time Hawthorne NJ police officers got to the bank, the suspect was already long gone. However, investigators were able to obtain surveillance video footage that reportedly showed the suspect committing the robbery.
Hawthorne NJ police then passed out information to surrounding municipalities, as well as the Pennsylvania State Police. This proved crucial in the apprehension of one of the suspects.
A Pennsylvania patrol officer captured one suspect as he crossed state lines and entered Pennsylvania. PA police subsequently detained the suspect, a 20-year-old man from East Stroudsburg, PA. Shortly thereafter, detectives with the Hawthorne Police Department and the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force interviewed the suspect and determined that he likely had a role in the bank robbery.
The following day, police apprehended another man believed to have participated in the Hawthorne bank robbery. Remarkably, the suspect was arrested when he showed up to Wayne Municipal Court in Wayne NJ in order to address criminal charges in another case. This suspect is a 44-year-old resident of Little Falls, NJ.
Both suspects face criminal charges for robbery. If they are convicted on the robbery charges, they would be in line for severe penalties. As set forth by N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1, a person who purposely puts someone in fear of immediate bodily injury while committing a theft can be charged with a second degree crime. A conviction for second degree robbery could result in a sentence of 5-10 years in NJ State Prison.
The suspect apprehended in Wayne NJ was moved to the Passaic County Jail in Paterson, New Jersey, where he was being held on a $100,000 bail amount. Meanwhile, the suspect arrested in Pennsylvania was awaiting extradition back to New Jersey. His bail amount was also set at $100K.
For more information about this case, access the NJ.com article, “Duo Charged with Hawthorne Bank Robbery.”
