Stoneham Savings robbed, FBI investigating
Published on November 4th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - Stoneham Savings Bank was again the victim of a bank robbery on Tuesday afternoon.
Stoneham and Burlington police as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) are presently investigating the robbery of Stoneham Savings and the Metropolitan Credit Union in Burlington.
According to Stoneham Police Lieutenant Gregory O'Keefe, the two incidents have not been tied together yet, but, given the time frame of the two incidents (both occurring between noon and 1 pm) a connection has not been ruled out.
According to media reports, a man wearing "a fake beard and hair" entered the Metropolitan Credit Union some time after noon and made off with an undetermined amount of cash. Police said the suspect was armed with a "Glock-type weapon."
This was the second time in two weeks that the Cambridge Street branch was victimized by a robbery and, according to police reports, it is now believed that those incidents are also tied together. No one was injured in Tuesday's robbery.
At 12:52 pm, Stoneham police received a report of a robbery from the 88 Main Street branch of Stoneham Savings Bank.
O'Keefe explained that a man entered the bank wearing a baseball hat, fake hair, a mask and a fake mustache, pulled out a "large revolver" and passed a note to a teller. He also spoke to the teller, O'Keefe said.
He left the bank with an undisclosed amount of money, got into a car stolen from a Redstone parking lot and fled the scene northbound on Main Street. Police now believe that a second male, possibly driving a black Ford Escort, was waiting for him in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 52 Main Street before the two fled the scene in the vehicle.
According to O'Keefe, the FBI will be handling a majority of the investigation.
"The FBI takes a hold of these cases," he said. "We just don't have the manpower or the equipment to run this type of investigation."
The main branch of Stoneham Savings Bank, located at 359 Main Street, was also the victim of a bank robbery over the summer. O'Keefe explained that it was unlikely that the same suspect was involved in both robberies.
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