Bank robbery suspect nabbed in Rockville Centre backyard

He might have been dubbed the “Cinderella bandit” because his lost shoe may have helped police dogs track his scent to a hiding place behind a Marion Place garage last Friday morning.

Jamie Bernard, 22, of Duston Road in North Woodmere, was arrested without incident by officers from the Nassau County Police Department’s Bureau of Special Operations at 10:50 a.m., shortly after he robbed the TD Bank on Merrick Road, police said.

According to detectives, Bernard entered the bank and handed a demand note to a teller. After obtaining an undetermined amount of money, he allegedly ran out the rear door of the bank into a municipal parking lot. There were seven employees in the bank during the robbery, police said, and no injuries were reported.

Bureau of Special Operations officers were joined by Rockville Centre police, units from the NCPD Robbery Squad and Emergency Services team, and a K9 officer from the 7th Precinct as they pursued the suspect on foot. A K9 unit from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department and the NCPD’s Helicopter 6 also joined in the search.

After Bernard was apprehended, the bank teller, branch manager and RVC P.D. Inspector Glenn Quinn, who had spotted him during the chase, were brought to the scene to identify him, police said. He was charged with robbery in the third degree and arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Sept. 3.

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