‘Straw Hat Bandit’ convicted of robberies
Sentencing pending for Doylestown man who was found guilty of robbing string of banks from 2012 to 2016
RICHARD BOYLE, 59, OF
DOYLESTOWN >> otherwise known at the “Straw Hat Bandit” — was convicted March 15 by a federal jury of 11 separate bank robberies; 10 counts of brandishing, using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence; and 10 counts of money laundering.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 15 before the Judge Gene E.K. Pratter.
Boyle stole a total of $495,686 during the 11 bank robberies, which occurred in Montgomery and Bucks counties between 2012 and 2016. He was able to steal that stunning total by threats of violence, including taking over the bank and forcing bank employees at gunpoint to open the vaults and ATMs. The defendant made careful plans to avoid apprehension, including wearing disguises, gloves and even spreading bleach on the floor of the banks to conceal his DNA. Immediately prior to certain bank robberies, Boyle attempted to slow the police response time to the bank robbery alarms by calling police or security about false reports, including a bomb threat at a country club, a planned attack at a mall and a man with a gun at Temple University.
“Eight and a half years ago, Richard Boyle stood in a different courtroom, having confessed to a string of bank robberies,” said Michael T. Harpster, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “He said he wished he could’ve made better choices. But after serving out his prison sentence, he was soon robbing banks again — this time, in disguises and at gunpoint.
The first robbery attributed to the Straw Hat Bandit was committed June 8, 2012, at Colonial American Bank, 300 Welsh Road in Horsham. The second came three months later, on Sept. 28, at the First Federal Bank, 803 Park Ave. in Wrightstown.
At the start of 2013, on Jan. 18, Boyle held up the Wells Fargo Bank, 706 Stony Hill Road in Yardley, and then on March 30 robbed the PNC Bank, 1015 S. Bethlehem Pike in Ambler.
On May 24, 2013, two banks were robbed: the Harleysville Savings Bank, 1889 E. Ridge Pike in Royersford, and the Univest Bank, 4285 Township Line Road in Schwenksville.
Three months later, he struck again, this time Aug. 30, 2013, at the Wells Fargo Bank, 25 W. Skippack Pike in Ambler.
Five months passed before the suspect held up the First Priority Bank, 10 Sentry Parkway in Blue Bell, on Jan. 2, 2014.
The next robbery attributed to him came a year later on Jan. 6, 2015, when he held up the Wells Fargo Bank, 481 W. Germantown Pike in Plymouth Meeting. Six months later, on July 3, 2015, he robbed the Wells Fargo Bank in Dresher.
The last robbery was July 2, 2016, at the PNC Bank, 1216 Welsh Road, North Wales.
The FBI took him into custody April 20, 2017.
According to the indictment in 2017, Boyle had a photography business, Sky Eye View, based at his home in Doylestown, that took in little revenue between 2012 and 2016, so “to conceal the source of the bank robbery proceeds,” he pretended the money he stole came from his photography business. He allegedly used his own credit cards to process some of the money through a financial services company.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Livermore and Sean McDonnell.