Join Your TownPolice and Fire 
By courtesy of Arlington Police Department
The robber of Citizens Bank in Arlington, shown in this photograph taken earlier this week by a surveillance camera, was John D. Spencer of Clinton, according to police. Spencer, taken in by town and federal police Tuesday night from his Highland Avenue home, was charged with robbing several banks in the Boston area.
Clinton man nabbed for Boston-area bank heists
By Noah R. Bombard
Thu Jul 12, 2007, 07:46 PM EDT
Police last night arrested a Clinton man who they say attempted to rob a Citizens Bank at 716 Main St. in Waltham yesterday.
That attempted robbery was just one of a rash of four reported area bank robberies or attempted robberies yesterday with suspects matching similar descriptions in Arlington, Waltham and Newton. In addition, several other banks in Newton, Watertown and Waltham were either robbed or had attempted robberies over the past week with suspects also matching similar descriptions.
John D. Spencer, 42, of 107 Highland Ave., was arrested at his home around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night by Waltham and Clinton police working with State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Bank Robbery Task Force. His arraignment was scheduled in Waltham District Court Wednesday morning.
Arlington Police Chief Fredrick Ryan said Spencer is a suspect in a Citizens Bank robbery that occurred in Arlington July 10. Detectives, he said, are continuing to compare images of the robberies captured by security cameras and to go over witness’s accounts. So far, however, Spencer has only been charged with the attempted robbery in Waltham. Waltham Detective Sgt. Timothy Ryan said police are continuing to investigate the other robberies.
Witnesses at each of the July 10 robberies described a man in his upper 30s or lower 40s, around 5 feet 10 inches tall with a T-shirt, baseball cap and sunglasses.
Area robberies, which primarily targeted Citizens Bank, began June 30 in Waltham. The next attempted robbery in the area occurred July 1 in Watertown, when a man walked into a Citizens Bank there and handed a note to the teller, then ran out of the bank when the teller failed to produce any cash. On July 9, the Eastern Savings Bank at 2060 Commonwealth Ave., Newton, was hit by a man handing a note to a teller and running off with an undisclosed amount of cash. But the real push came Tuesday, beginning at around 10:20 a.m. in Arlington, when a man — again matching the same descriptions — presented a note to a teller there. It was the first of four robberies yesterday. An hour later, a bank in Waltham was hit with an attempted robbery, followed shortly after by a robbery at a bank in Newton and finally the robbery of the Sovereign Bank in Waltham. In the last robbery, however, police say the suspect showed a gun in addition to passing a note demanding money.
On Tuesday, shortly after images of the alleged robber were released to the press by the Arlington Police Department, Police Chief Fredrick Ryan said it would only be a matter of time before the suspect was apprehended.
“Investigators from the region worked quickly to compare notes, analyze evidence, and develop a case against this suspect and we're happy he is in custody,” Ryan said July 11. “We'll work collectively now to close the remainder of the cases.”
(Noah R. Bombard can be reached at nbombard@cnc.com or 781-674-7726.)
