Police nab 3 robbery suspects
Officers on detail spot car, win chase
Two Boston police officers working private details in Charlestown yesterday captured three men suspected in a bank robbery in Somerville, and detectives are investigating whether the men are responsible for other bank robberies in the area.
James Rigano, 42, of Malden, Terry Dunnels Jr., 29, of Cambridge, N.Y., and Eric Leonard, 20, of Everett were arrested on charges of armed bank robbery while masked and will be arraigned today in Somerville District Court, according to Somerville and Boston police.
Two men entered the East Cambridge Savings Bank at 285 Highland Ave. in Somerville wearing masks and gloves around 3:40 p.m., Deputy Chief Paul Upton of the Somerville police said. One man held the customers and bank employees at gunpoint while the other vaulted the teller counter and stole an undisclosed amount of money, Upton said.
According to Upton, a dye pack in the stolen money exploded, and the men abandoned the cash before they got into a black Lincoln Town Car driven by a third man.
Somerville police notified area police departments that the car was being used as a getaway vehicle. Boston police Officer James Holder, who was working on a construction detail, said he spotted the car at around 4:20 p.m. while it was stopped at a red light at the intersection of Austin and Main streets in Charlestown.
Holder took two of the men into custody, but the third fled.
Holder and Boston police Officer Timothy Mills, who was working a private detail at the nearby Bunker Hill Mall, chased the man over fences, across some streets, and through a few parking lots before apprehending him at gunpoint, Holder said.
“I think he just saw the uniform and took off,’’ said Holder. Mills said the man fled for several blocks before finally surrendering. “After a couple of large fences, he saw one really large fence and just said, ‘that’s it,’ ’’ Mills said.
Two of the suspects made incriminating statements in connection with yesterday’s robbery and to other recent bank robberies, Upton said in a statement. Additional charges will be filed in those incidents, he said.
