Crime & Safety

Rockland Law Enforcement Honored for Bank Robbery Bust

The Orangetown and Clarkstown Police and the offices of the Rockland County DA, Rockland County Sheriff and Rockland County Intelligence received 2013 Investigator/Prosecutor of the Year awards for their work in solving a series of bank robberies.

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Local and state law enforcement officials worked together to end a string of armed bank robberies with the arrest of two men from the Bronx in June of 2012. 

Michael Johnson and Andre Johnson were arrested shortly after robbing a bank in Yonkers, the result of an investigation that began in 2011. They robbed a total of nine banks, including ones in Nyack and Nanuet, stealing a total of $447,399. The New York State Police Special Investigations Unit made the arrests, but the investigation involved a large group of local and state units working together.

"There were a whole bunch of officers involved, too many to individually recognize," Orangetown Police Chief Kevin Nulty said. "I thought we should recognize the units involved. It was a good cooperation of the whole region in this case. 

"I think all of us recognize (the need to work together). That's why we work together so closely."

The Federal Law Enforcement Foundation recognized 10 law enforcement organizations from Rockland, Westchester and Bergen Counties for their combined efforts in the case with 2013 Investigator/Prosecutor of the Year awards during a ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City Friday.

The organizations receiving unit citations were:

  • Federal Bureau of Investigations -- White Plains Residence Agency
  • U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York/White Plains Office
  • New York State Police Special Investigations Unit/White Plains Office
  • Orangetown Police Department
  • Clarkstown Police Department
  • Yonkers Police Department
  • Rockland County Sheriff's Office/Bureau of Crimina Investigation
  • Rockland County Intelligence Center
  • Rockland County District Attorney's Office
  • Bergen County Prosecutor's Office in Hackensack, N.J.
  • Greenburgh Police Department in White Plains
The robberies went back as far as 2009. Federal investigators found a similar method to the commitment of the crimes, leading to the identification of several suspects. The arresting officers were doing surveillance based on information gathered by the collaboration of the Orangetown Police, Clarkstown Police, Rockland County Intelligence Center and FBI/White Plains Residence Agency. 

One suspect was caught with a large amount of money which had been contaminated by a red dye pack that exploded as he left the bank. The second suspect was identified as an accomplice and arrested later. 

Police had been observing the suspects and they believe they had been casing banks in Bergen County as future targets. 

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