By: Laura Lane
The robber ran out of the bank with the money. Only then did other employees figure out what had happened. Customers sitting nearby still didn't realize the bank had just been robbed.
That's how a recent central Nassau bank robbery went down, according to the teller.
She said she has suffered terribly since the robbery. At a grocery store the next evening, she became frightened by another shopper. The person was looking at what I was looking at, and I guess they got too close, she said. I jumped, thinking it was the bank robber. That person must have thought I was crazy.
The teller, who is now seeing a therapist, has even dreamed about the bank robber. I had a dream I heard the 7-Eleven store nearby was robbed, she said. In my dream, I go to the store and talk to the employee who was robbed, and I know he was robbed by the same guy.
Bank robberies are on the rise countywide, and Merrick and East Meadow have been hit. The robbery at Chase Manhattan Bank in Merrick on Sept. 29 remains unsolved. A spree of bank robberies in Westbury, East Meadow and Hicksville began over the summer. To date, there have been seven in the three communities.
According to the Nassau County Police Department, there have been 41 bank robberies in Nassau County so far this year. In November 2003, there were 26 reported for the year.
Detective Sgt. Gary Schriffen, commanding officer of the police department's Robbery Squad, believes bank robberies are on the rise because drug use is as well. Addicts need fast cash to feed their habits.
Schriffen also said that the bank robbers are hitting the same banks more than once. Traditionally, a bank robber doesn't come back, Schriffen said. But this year we've had an increase in pattern robberies.
Schriffen said there have been nine pattern robberies this year. He added, We locked up a guy a couple of weeks ago that committed seven bank robberies.
Two North Fork banks, one in Westbury and the other in Hicksville, were robbed in October. On Nov. 2, the East Meadow Commerce Bank on Hempstead Turnpike was also robbed. A representative of the banks could not be reached for comment.
Banks willingly hand over cash when robbed. The policy of every bank is to get the guy out with no one hurt, Schriffen said.
Security measures vary from bank to bank, however. The Banking Security Act requires that banks follow security precautions, but doesn-t define what these precautions should be, Schriffen said. Floor-to-ceiling glass [in front of tellers] is expensive and not cosmetically pleasing to customers. The cameras don-t have to be visible, either, and can be anywhere.
One investment adviser at a bank, who declined to be identified, said sometimes bank cameras use old tapes, and the quality is bad. Banks use the cameras differently, he said. In some, they don-t go on until the teller presses a button to activate them. In others, they-re hidden.
The adviser said it-s true that banks train their tellers to hand over cash when robbed. I knew of an investment adviser who fought a bank robber, beat him up pretty bad, and the police arrested the bank robber. The bank informed the investment adviser if he ever did that again, he-d lose his job. Banks are always afraid of personal-injury suits, so they tell employees not to fight the robber, the adviser said.
Police recently arrested a suspect, Joseph Occiogrosso, 28, who they believe may have committed the North Fork and Commerce bank robberies. Police allege that Occiogrosso is a pattern bank robber. He has been charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, one count of second-degree robbery, third-degree robbery and attempted robbery and resisting arrest.
Police said Occiogrosso was from the area, but homeless.
Comments about this story? LLane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
