Philadelphia man pleads guilty to bank robbery in Bryn Mawr
PHILADELPHIA >> A Philadelphia man pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with the armed bank robbery of the Firstrust Bank branch on Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr in March.
Justin O’Brien, 32, of the 2100 block of Arizona
Street, entered the guilty plea Monday in front of Judge Nitza Ileana Quinones Alejandro.
According to court documents, on March 12 a man identified as O’Brien entered the bank and approached a bank teller at station three. He then produced a handgun. As he pointed the weapon at the teller, he said, “Give me the money in your drawer.”
The teller removed $1,260 in cash from the drawer and placed it on the counter. The suspect grabbed the money and fled from the building.
After exiting the bank, the suspect was seen entering a car parked at the nearby Rite Aid store. While exiting the parking lot, he was involved in a minor traffic crash. A description of the car was broadcast over radios by Lower Merion police.
A car fitting the description of the silver-colored 2014 Nissan Maxima was then picked up by a Lower Merion patrol car on Hollow Road near Conshohocken State Road.
Police followed the vehicle as it entered eastbound I-76. The driver then exited at Belmont Avenue. Although police lost sight of the car, it was later found abandoned on Monument Road in Philadelphia.
A pellet gun and a wallet with O’Brien’s driver’s license were found inside the car.
When police checked on
O’Brien’s background, they found that he had been released from federal prison in February on another bank robbery charge.
After an arrest warrant was issued, O’Brien was picked up by Philadelphia police in late March. While being interviewed by police, O’Brien admitted to the robbery after being shown bank surveillance photos.
O’Brien is scheduled to be sentenced March 26.