Police Nab Suspected Serial Robber After He Tries To Hop On SEPTA Bus
By Chelsea Karnash and Elizabeth Hur
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Police say they believe a serial bank robber is off the streets.
The inner and outer lanes of the Roosevelt Boulevard were gridlocked on Tuesday evening due to a police investigation into a bank robbery.
The suspect reportedly robbed the Wells Fargo at Welsh Road and the Boulevard then tried to hop on a SEPTA bus and make a getaway.
"For some reason, he felt the need to – after robbing the bank – get on a SEPTA bus as his getaway vehicle," explains Chief Inspector Scott Small, of the Philadelphia Police Department.
Odd, as a SEPTA bus makes frequent stops. But that's not all.
Police were able to track and stop the suspect using a tracker placed in the stolen money.
"Bank employees gave up the money but also put a tracking device in the money," Inspector Small says.
With the tracking device on him, police say the suspect made a run for it around 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Officers were able to locate the tracking device about a mile away at Cottman and the Boulevard.
"When police entered the SEPTA bus, they found the suspect…who matched the description of the bank robber. When they stopped this individual on the bus, they not only found the money stolen from the bank, they also found the tracking device," Small says.
Police say the bank teller was brought to the scene where the bus was stopped and that teller was able to identify the suspect.
In the latest case, police say the suspect used a demand note threatening he had a gun. Thankfully, police say he was not armed and the 15 passengers on the bus were not hurt.
Investigators are now looking into the possibility that the same suspect is responsible for a total of four recent bank robberies in Northeast Philadelphia.
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