Police Beat: Tracking Down Bank Robbers

The robbery of the Capital One Bank, on Little East Neck Road, in Babylon Village was the tenth of 14 bank heists in Suffolk County since the start of the year.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident that occurred on March 11,  as well as four more bank robberies that have taken place since.

The suspect in the Babylon Village incident, captured clearly on surveillance videotape, is described as a white male in his mid 20s, with an unshaven olive complexion, a slim to medium build, standing about 6-feet to 6-feet-2 inches tall and having dark hair.

Police said the videotape shows the suspect approaching the teller with a note and that he told the bank teller he was armed. In the video he is shown wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, jeans and black gloves.

The teller complied and the suspect fled on foot, most likely to a vehicle parked near the bank, police said.

The current tally of Suffolk bank hits is double the number compared to a year ago when six bank heists took place between Jan. 1, 2010 and March 14, 2010. In 2009 there were eight bank robberies in the county in the same three-month time period.

The police have made several arrests in the past weeks in robbery cases in 2010 and have arrested three suspects related to a Lake Ronkonkoma bank robbery on March 15. One of those suspects is also being charged with a 2010 robbery. The police have also arrested a Dix Hills man for robbing the Citibank branch in Commack on March 12, and a man whom allegedly committed three bank robberies in Suffolk and one in Nassau in 2010.

West Babylon resident William Loughlin, 59, is charged with three counts of robbery in the first degree for robbing the Chase Bank in West Babylon, the HSBC Bank on Walt Whitman Road in Huntington Station and the HSBC Bank on Route 25 in Commack. He allegedly told the West Babylon teller he had a bomb strapped to his body, according to police.

It’s not unusual for one person to be responsible for several bank robberies, police said. And real bank robberies are a far cry from fictional scenes depicted in films and television programs. Most often bank customers aren’t even aware a robbery is taking place.

“The public typically doesn’t have any indication as the person comes in quietly, in a discreet approach to a teller,” explained Gerard Pelkofsky, Suffolk County Police Det. Lt., who heads up SCPD’s homicide and major crimes division.

Bank customers are advised to remain calm and passive if they do notice a robbery happening, and should avoid confronting the robber, Pelkofsky said.

Bank customers are advised to remain calm and passive if they do notice a robbery happening, and should avoid confronting the robber, Pelkofsky added.

Police said that the dozen robberies this year are not the work of a dozen different individuals.

“A string of incidents is usually the actions of three to four people,” Pelkofsky said.

Bank robbers are usually stealing money to support drug or gambling habits.

“Maybe two to three percent [of bank robbers] are individuals desperate for cash to buy for food for a family,” Pelkofsky said.

Anyone with information regarding the robberies can provide information anonymously using the SCPD Crime Stoppers 1-800-220-TIPS number.