Chelmsford Bank Robber Gets Six Years In Prison

WOBURN -- A 33-year-old Methuen man has been sentenced to six yeasr in state prison after pleading guilty to the 2016 robbery of the Citizen's Bank at the Chelmsford Stop & Shop.

In Middlesex Superior Court last month, Joshua Pittochelli, 33, of Methuen, was sentenced to six-to seven-years in state prison after pleading guilty to unarmed robbery and conspiracy in connection with the Feb. 3, 2016 robbery in Chelmsford. He was also a suspect in other robberies and others in Lawrence and Methuen. Co-defendant Beth Giguere, 36, of Lowell, was placed on probation for three years after pleading guilty to unarmed robbery and conspiracy in the Chelmsford robbery. As part of her probation, she must abstain from drugs, submit to random screens, and stay away and have no contact with the Citizen's Bank in Chelmsford Methuen police first responded to a Stop Quick convenience store for a report of an armed robbery with a knife on Feb. 3, 2016. Surveillance video shows a man with a knife threatening the store clerk, who pulled out a golf club and began swinging. The video then shows the man ripping the cash register off the counter, eventually breaking the glass door, then climbing through the broken glass. Police say he fled in a blue SUV.

Later that day, the same man robbed a bank in Lawrence, according to police, and was seen leaving in a blue Toyota RAV4.

Police said the same robber was seen leaving the Chelmsford bank on Sunday in a blue RAV4 driven by a woman.

All three police departments applied for warrants for the suspect, later determined to be Pittochelli.

State police spotted the RAV4 and pursued him on Interstate 495, following him to Route 213. Pittochelli pulled into the Methuen police station to surrender, according to police.