Stoneham Savings Bank robbed
Published on July 28th, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - For the second time in two weeks a bank on Main Street Stoneham was robbed.
At 2:45 p.m. on Friday Debbie Puglia of the Stoneham Savings Bank at 359 Main St. called Stoneham Police to report that a man had just stolen $7,654 in $20 bills, $10 bills, $5 bills and $1 bills.
Stoneham and Woburn police are assisting the Federal Bureau of Investigation Robbery Task Force on the case.
"We believe these subjects are different than the ones who robbed the Eastern Bank," said Stoneham Detective Edwin Peek. "And we are close to an arrest on this one."
A security camera caught an image of one of the robbers. The man did not wear a mask.
According to Detective Peek, the robber was described by witnesses as a black or Hispanic male, possibly in his early 30s, around six feet tall, with a medium build.
The suspect walked into the bank and handed a teller a note demanding money.
"Witnesses said he had his hand in his shirt indicating a gun," Peek said.
Then the suspect left and got into a grey Taurus driven by a blond female. The two suspects headed south on Main Street. The getaway car has not yet been recovered.
According to officers on the scene, as the suspects fled, dye packets, which are placed in with the money by bank employees as an anti-theft mechanism, began to explode, splattering paint in the car and on Main Street in front of the bank.
"Someone came up to me on the street and asked, 'What does a red explosion mean?' and a second later the call came over about the robbery," Patrolman Thomas Day said.
Police said witnesses reported that the suspects threw some of the money out the window of the Taurus.
Also, in a comical yet criminal twist, another male individual walking up Main Street allegedly picked up some money and ran north.
"It was chaos out here," said Patrolman Joe Ponzo.
Detective Peek said the police have yet to substantiate the details about the post-robbery theft of the jettisoned loot.
Stoneham Detectives Peek and John Leccese are working on the case with Woburn Police Detective Chuck Carroll in conjunction with the FBI.
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