City police charge alleged bank robber
WOONSOCKET – Nearly two months after the robbery of Citizens Bank, police caught up with the alleged crook with a little help from a Massachusetts police department this week.
Russell Boyd Crowe, 22, of Taunton, was arraigned on one count of seconddegree robbery in Sixth District Court on Tuesday. A judge set bail on the charge at $50,000 with surety, but Crowe was unable to post the necessary amount and was remanded to the Adult Correctional Institutions, according to a clerk in the criminal division.
Crowe is due back in court for a pre-arraignment conference on July 25.
The Raynham, Mass., police picked up Crowe on shoplifting charges April 24 and subsequently learned that Woonsocket police had issued a warant for his arrest in the March 15 robbery of Citizens Bank, located at 67 Cumberland St.
Detective Sgt. Matt Ryan said Crowe waived
extradition from the Bay State in Bristol District Court, allowing city police to pick him up for arraignment in the robbery on Tuesday.
Wearing a hooded sweat- shirt pulled over his face, Crowe allegedly walked into Citizens Bank shortly after 3 p.m. on March 16, leaving a red pickup truck parked, with the engine running, in the lot of Fournier & Fournier Funeral Home, next door to the bank.
Police say Crowe handed a teller a note demanding money. The teller complied, handing over an undisclosed amount of cash to Crowe, who ran off.
A man who was working in the garage of the funeral home told police he noticed a red Ford Ranger parked on Fournier & Fournier’s property around the time of the robbery. The man told police that he saw a man fitting Crowe’s description get into the vehicle and take off in a hurry.
The funeral home worker told police he tried to make some friendly conversation with the driver, but he drove off.
The worker was able to obtain a partial registration plate from the vehicle, a criti- cal piece of information that helped investigators identify Crowe as a suspect in the robbery.
The registered owner of the Ranger was Crowe, according to a police affidavit. Police said DMV photographs and Crowe’s Facebook postings under his own name showed images of him that matched those of the suspect captured on Citizens Bank surveillance photos.
Police issued a warrant for Crowe’s arrest on March 27, distributing a photograph of the suspect with a request for the public’s help with information regarding his whereabouts.