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Salem man allegedly used taxi as getaway car

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 25, 2009 07:17 PM

By Stewart Bishop, Globe Correspondent

A 38-year-old man took a taxi to a Salem bank today, then asked the driver to wait for him while he used the cash machine. The driver didn't know that his passenger's real intention was to withdraw money with a gun rather than a plastic card, police said.

Jose R. Rodriguez of Salem was captured about an hour after he allegedly robbed the Eastern Bank on Congress Street at gunpoint, said Salem Police Detective William Jennings.

Rodriguez walked away from the bank at about 9:23 a.m. with an undisclosed amount of cash, Jennings said, getting back into the taxi and going to an address on Porter Street Court.

A witness was able to take down the license plate of the cab, and police were able to track down the driver.

"The driver had no idea what was going on," Jennings said. "He [Rodriguez] told him he was just using the ATM."

The driver led police to the Porter Street Court address, where Rodriguez was arrested without incident. He is charged with armed robbery while masked, and is to be arraigned Friday morning in Salem District Court.