Fleet Bank—

Police Assemble Clues In Bank Robbery Investigation

By Andrew Gorosko

Police this week were piecing together a series of clues from several recent bank robberies in seeking to identify the man who robbed Fleet Bank at 6 Queen Street on April 27.

In a low-key bank robbery, during which people within Fleet Bank were unaware of what was happening, a lone man stole an unspecified amount cash from a female bank teller and then quietly slipped out the front door of the Queen Street building at about 10:20 am, eluding capture. The bank, which faces Queen Street, is in Newtown Shopping Village.

Police Detective Sergeant Robert Tvardzik said Newtown police are working with West Hartford police in seeking to solve the crime. The day after the Fleet Bank robbery, a man matching the description and methods of the Fleet Bank bandit robbed a People’s Bank branch office in West Hartford.

A similar bank robbery also occurred on April 1 in Stonington, Det Sgt Tvardzik said. Also, in early April, a bank robbery occurred in Rhode Island, which may be linked to the three other bank robberies, he said.

Police have some information about a vehicle that was used by the bandit after the Stonington bank robbery, the detective said. Police do not have information on the getaway vehicle used after the Fleet Bank incident.

Following the April 27 Fleet Bank robbery, police received several calls from people who said they knew who robbed the bank, Det Sgt Tvardzik said.

“We followed [leads from] several anonymous calls…None of those [tips] have panned out at this time,” he said.

“I think in due time he [robber] can be identified,” the detective added.

“We’re still communicating with the FBI” about the robbery, he said.

Of the robber’s ability to swiftly escape after the crime, Det Sgt Tvardzik said, “He didn’t draw attention to himself in or outside the bank…He’s inconspicuous.”

Police have described the bandit as a white male in his mid 20s, who is short, with a medium-to-small build. The man has close-cropped dark hair. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses and dark leather gloves, plus a bulky tan, zippered, sweatshirt.

The man uneventfully entered Fleet Bank and handed a middle-aged female teller a note stating that he had a gun, and indicating that the teller should hand over money to him. No weapon was shown during the incident. There were no injuries.

The teller handed over an unspecified amount of cash to the man and he then quietly left the bank through the front door.

Detective Joseph Joudy is the lead investigator in the Fleet Bank robbery. Police ask anyone with information about the crime to contact him at 426-5841.

The Fleet Bank office was also the scene of a March 2000 bank robbery, which was the first bank robbery that had occurred in Newtown in decades.

Three years later, in May 2003, another bank robbery took place at People’s Bank, which also is in Newtown Shopping Village.

The People’s Bank office was one of six banks that were robbed during a two-day period by Pamela Kaichen, 44, of New York State. Kaichen is serving a four-year prison sentence for those robberies.