Bank Robberies

Police made arrests Friday in two Hagerstown bank robberies, authorities said. Maryland State Police charged Neal Patrick Wells Sr., 38, of Hagerstown, with robbery, theft and motor vehicle theft in connection with a July 21 robbery at the Maugans Avenue branch of Hagerstown Trust. Cornell Maurice Georgie, 47, of Baltimore, was charged on Wednesday with robbery and theft in connection with the holdup. Two men entered the Hagerstown Trust Bank at 18201 Maugans Ave. on July 21. One remained in the lobby while the other handed a teller a bag with a note attached demanding money.

Sheriff's deputies from Washington, Frederick and Berkeley counties have joined forces to look for a man they believe is  linked to a series of robberies in all three counties since Tuesday. The man is believed to have started his spree in Frederick County Tuesday where he stole a truck and attempted to rob a bank before moving on to rob one bank in Washington County and one in Berkeley County, W.Va., according to a news release from the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Because of the time frame, suspect and vehicle descriptions, and sequence of events, the three sheriff's offices are investigating the incidents as related, the release said.

Md. man charged in 4 bank robberies By MARLO BARNHART Staff Writer BALTIMORE - A Middletown, Md., man charged in four 1997 bank robberies - including one on Feb. 7 at the Hagerstown Trust Co. in Boonsboro - was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court to 10 years and three months in federal prison. Aaron Douglas Knill, 19, of Hollow Road, was apprehended Feb. 22 during a drug bust at a Frederick motel and has been in federal custody since then. Guilty pleas were taken in U.S. District Court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmina Hughes.

There is no question that David Courtney Zeller robbed the same bank twice in two weeks, but it will be up to Washington County Circuit Judge Donald E. Beachley to determine if the Hagerstown man is criminally responsible for his actions. Zeller, 57, formerly of the Dagmar Hotel, pleaded guilty in November to two counts of robbing the Sovereign Bank at 100 W. Washington St., on March 9 and March 23, 2010. At the time, Assistant State's Attorney Brett Wilson said the state was seeking a prison sentence of as much as 20 years.

HAGERSTOWN - The Maryland Association for Bank Security is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a man police believe is responsible for three recent bank robberies in the Hagerstown area. Maryland State Police Trooper 1st Class Michael Kretzer said police believe the same man was responsible for robbing two M&T Banks and one Susquehanna Bank over the course of the past month. The M&T Bank at 13409 Pennsylvania Ave. was robbed Saturday at about noon, the M&T Bank at 14 W. Potomac St. in Williamsport was robbed at about 2:30 p.m. on June 21 and Susquehanna Bank at 13232 Fountain Head Plaza was robbed June 13 at about 6 p.m., The Herald-Mail has reported.

By LAURA ERNDE Staff Writer Tri-State area banks have been the unlucky target of 13 robberies since Friday, Sept. 13. That's a rate of more than three a month. But the goods news is that police have made arrests in all but two of the holdups, both in Hagerstown. Unsolved is a Dec. 12 robbery at Hagerstown Trust Co.'s Prospect Avenue branch and a Jan. 10 holdup at Home Federal Savings Bank, 1700 Dual Highway in Hagerstown. Police believe all five bank robberies in Franklin County, Pa., were related.

HAGERSTOWN -- A Winchester, Va., man has been indicted on federal charges related to two bank robberies in Hagerstown in October and November 2007. During the first robbery, the man allegedly shot at a Washington County Sheriff's Department cruiser and took a deputy's gun. The man had the deputy's weapon during the second robbery, according to police. David Wilbert Shanton Sr., 53, faces more than 150 charges brought by the state, including armed robbery and false imprisonment.

Man sentenced to 8 years, restitution A Frederick, Md., man was found guilty Wednesday in Washington County District Court of theft scheme. Steven Lawrence Bass, 41, of 1000 Heather Ridge Drive, Apt. 105, was sentenced to eight years in jail, with five years suspended. He also was ordered to serve three years of probation upon his release, documents state. He was ordered to pay more than $3,000 in restitution. Bass also was charged with four counts of theft, but those charges were dismissed, court documents state.

By BRUCE HAMILTON / Staff Writer photo, bottom right: MARLA BROSE / staff photographer A man robbed a downtown Hagerstown bank Monday morning without setting foot inside the building, according to the Hagerstown Police Department. [cont. from front page ] The unmasked man walked up to the drive-through window of American Trust Bank at 32 N. Potomac St., wrote a robbery note and fled with an undisclosed amount of money. Surveillance cameras captured clear images of the robber.

Possible armed robbery suspect arrested in N.J. McCONNELLSBURG, Pa. - A series of armed bank robberies in Pennsylvania in March and April, including one on March 6 at the Fulton County National Bank in Warfordsfordsburg, have been solved with the arrest of a Huntingdon County man, state police said Thursday. David Arthur Lucas, 26, of Hesston, Pa., was captured near Atlantic City on Tuesday, according to Trooper Sean F. Flaherty of the McConnellsburg State Police Detachment.

A man suspected of robbing the Susquehanna Bank on Frederick Street in Hagerstown on May 10 has been arrested, according to the Hagerstown Police Department. Brandon Lee Rohrer, 23, of 20422 Mill Point Road in Boonsboro, faces charges of robbery, second-degree assault and theft from $1,000 to under $10,000. According to a report of the robbery in The Herald-Mail, the robber made off with an undisclosed amount of money May 10 after he handed a note to a teller demanding money. No weapons were displayed at the time of the robbery, according to police.

Police apprehended a Hagerstown man in a dressing room in the Eddie Bauer store and caught another Hagerstown man near the Timberland store in the Hagerstown Premium Outlets Monday afternoon following a robbery at the Washington County Teachers Federal Credit Union on Virginia Avenue. Police swarmed the outlets when Joshua Andre Lockley and Cruz Daniel Maldonado were apprehended, and people who were shopping at the time stopped and watched the situation unfold. Lockley, 28, of 424 N. Locust St., and Maldonado, 21, of 398 Bryan Place, were being held in the county's central booking facility Monday night waiting to see a district commissioner, a spokeswoman said.

An exploding dye packet helped lead police to the arrest of two men in a bank robbery last year, one of whom pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court this week and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Jacob Malachi Adams, 22, formerly of 330 McDowell Ave., pleaded guilty Tuesday to armed robbery in the Nov. 15, 2012, holdup of the Susquehanna Bank branch on Salem Avenue. Judge Daniel P. Dwyer sentenced Adams to 20 years with all but 10 years suspended, court records said.

The man charged with the Tuesday robbery of the Bank of Charles Town in Kearneysville, W.Va., also was charged this week with robbing $6,000 from the BB&T Bank in Inwood, W.Va., on Dec. 26, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court documents. Darius Wayne Cook, 27, of 51 Entwine Ave. in Martinsburg, was arraigned Thursday on one count of robbery by Magistrate Charles C. Cole Sr., according to court documents. Cook was being held Thursday at Eastern Regional Jail on a $100,000 bond in connection with the BB&T Bank robbery, according to court and jail records.

Police arrested two Berkeley County residents suspected of robbing the Bank of Charles Town in Kearneysville on Tuesday evening less than 10 minutes after the robbery was reported, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department announced. Darius Wayne Cook and Candace Brooke Leber, both of Martinsburg, W.Va., were charged with bank robbery and conspiracy, according to a news release. Jefferson County 911 received a bank alarm from 5480 Charles Town Road at 3:52 p.m. and the suspects were detained at 3:59 p.m. at the intersection of Wiltshire and Charles Town roads (old W.Va.

Two men were arrested Friday morning and charged in connection to Thursday's armed robbery of Susquehanna Bank on Salem Avenue, according to Lt. Tom Langston of the Hagerstown Police Department. Jacob Malachi Adams, 22, of 330 McDowell Ave., Hagerstown, and Jared Jones Reeder, 25, of 3923 Duvall Ave., Baltimore, were taken into custody after a vehicle stop on East Avenue around 7:30 a.m., Langston said in a news release. Both men face charges of armed robbery, first- and second-degree assault, theft of over $10,000, plus various handgun and related charges, Langston said.

A man and a woman have been charged with robbing a bank Thursday morning at Somerset Plaza near Charles Town, W.Va., the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said. Reginald Andre Taylor, 48, of 3801 Kenworth Ave. in Bladensburg, Md., was charged with bank robbery, according to a sheriff's office news release. Yolanda Rochelle Armstrong, 39, of the same address, was charged with accessory after the fact. Deputies said they were called to a bank robbery in progress shortly after 9 a.m. at the MVB East Bank at 88 Somerset Blvd.

Pennsylvania State Police in Fulton County were seeking a man in connection with the Tuesday robbery of the F&M Trust Bank branch at the Penn's Village Shopping Center. An arrest warrant was issued for Aaron Lee Deneen, 27, of 380 Lions Park Drive, McConnellsburg, police said. Deneen had not been taken into custody as of Tuesday night, police said. Anyone who sees Deneen is advised to use caution  and call state police at 717-484-3131. Police said a man identified as Deneen entered the bank at 2:39 p.m. and gave a handwritten note to one of the tellers that read “give me what you have and you will not get hurt,” police said.