Centerport man arrested after four bank robberies in one month

Centerport man arrested after four bank robberies in one month

Following investigation, police apprehend man in Greenlawn

File photo

A Centerport man who police said robbed three Suffolk County banks and attempted to hit a fourth in Huntington all in the same month was arrested on Friday morning in Greenlawn.

Police pored over video surveillance and multiple Crime Stoppers tips and ended up pinning Frank Marquez, 46, with the robbery of a TD Bank on Broadhollow Road in Farmingdale on July 7; the robbery of another TD Bank on Deer Park Avenue in Deer Park on July 14; and the July 21 robbery of a Capital One on Deer Park Avenue in North Babylon.

Police also said he tried to rob a People’s United Bank on E. Main Street in Huntington on July 14. At the time, police said a man in shorts, a white T-shirt and a red hat made verbal demands for money at the bank but fled after the teller did not comply. But he was successful 25 minutes later, when he allegedly showed up at the TD Bank on Deer Park Avenue and once again verbally demanded money from a teller.

Police said the teller gave the man money and he fled south from the Deer Park bank on foot. The suspect at the time was described as a Hispanic man with a gray goatee, between 40 and 45 years old, and between 5 foot 6 inches and 5 foot 7 inches tall with a medium build.

The Suffolk County Police Pattern Crime Unit detectives, with assistance from officers in the 2nd Precinct, found Marquez on Pulaski Road near Butterfield Drive in Greenlawn at 10:23 a.m. A detective from the Pattern Crime Unit said he was apprehended in his car, a 1994 Jeep Cherokee.

Marquez was charged with three counts of third-degree robbery, one count of attempted third-degree robbery and second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, for driving with a suspended license.

Marquez is being held overnight and is scheduled for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on July 25.

Attorney information for Marquez wasn’t immediately available on Friday afternoon.