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Defense attorney: Suspect in Dedham bank robbery recently lost his job

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 17, 2009 02:37 PM

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

The well-dressed man driving a BMW who allegedly tried to rob a Dedham bank Tuesday has a wife and a 9-year-old child and virtually no criminal record, but he recently lost his job and became depressed, his defense attorney said today.

The incident was "totally out of his character" for Delroy G. Henry, his attorney, Francis DiMento said today at Henry's arraignment in Dedham District Court.

DiMento also said Henry, 34, of Boston's Dorchester section, had always supported his family but had recently been involved in a motorcycle accident that left his left arm paralyzed.

Henry faces a charge of attempting to commit a bank robbery, as well as four counts of kidnapping and four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after he allegedly entered the bank Tuesday with what appeared to be a handgun and ordered the workers into a corner.

Judge Mary Hogan-Sullivan ordered Henry, a native of Jamaica, held in lieu of $15,000 cash bail. Wearing a white T-shirt and orange jail-issued drawstring pants, Henry looked despondent during the hearing and the proceedings had to be postponed for an hour after he began hyperventilating.

Henry, wearing a suit and tie, parked a shiny black BMW sport utility vehicle Tuesday morning near the Citizens Bank on Bryant Street on Tuesday morning. He allegedly entered the ATM vestibule, then pushed his way into the bank as employees opened up, pulling what appeared to be a handgun.

Police said that as Henry began to look for the bank's vault, the branch manager used her cellphone to send a distress message to the Norwood branch manager, who called authorities.

As police surrounded the bank, Henry turned to the bank employees and asked, "Who did it? Who called the police?" according to a police report.

Henry was arrested after he walked alone out of the bank shortly afterward.

DiMento said Henry was a graduate of Boston's Jeremiah Burke High School who had attended Mount Ida College in Newton. He had formerly worked at Boch Toyota. DiMento said he had most recently worked at Sentient Flight Group Inc. in Weymouth.