The suspect in the robbery of the Sovereign Bank branch on Broad Street in Red Bank earlier this month has admitted to that heist, according to a Red Bank Police official.
The Star-Ledger reports that 39-year-old Robert Arndt, who was apprehended in the attempted robbery of a Middlesex County bank earlier this week, told authorities he was responsible for as many as a dozen bank heists throughout northern and central New Jersey in recent months.
The Sledger cites a filing in federal court made yesterday by FBI Special Agent Michael Scimeca. FBI agents arrested Arndt, a resident of a Rahway motel, Tuesday as he approached the Unity Bank in Middlesex Borough carrying a holdup note stating he had a gun, the Sledger reports, citing the Scimeca document.
From the Sledger account:
“I have a gun! I won’t hesitate to use it! Place $100, $50, $20 $10 on counter. I better be happy with amounts or I will make an example of U! No game! Now!” the note read, according to Scimeca’s complaint.
Capt. Steve McCarthy of the Red Bank department says the Sept. 3 Sovereign robbery is among the dozen Arndt has admitted to.
The above photo shows the suspect in that heist. No gun was shown in that case, authorities said.
More from the Sledger:
Arndt has been charged with robbing the Columbia Savings Bank in the Colonia section of Woodbridge on July 28 of $9,361, and robbing the PNC Bank in Green Brook Aug. 13 of $14,332, the complaint states. In both robberies, Arndt handed a teller a note demanding money and saying he had a gun.
A security camera captured pictures of Arndt fleeing the PNC Bank in a vehicle that appeared to be a brown Chevy Blazer. FBI agents were following Arndt on Tuesday as he drove to the Unity Bank in a vehicle that matched the description of the Blazer, Scimeca said in the court papers.
Following his arrest, Arndt told federal authorities he had successfully held up about 12 banks, according to the complaint. Arndt was under investigation for robberies that occurred in five counties this summer, said Special Agent Sean Quinn, spokesman for the FBI office in Newark.
But despite the apparent influx of cash, Arndt was staying in a $44.85-a-night motel room on Route 1 in Rahway since Sept. 6, according to Joe Lodius, manager of the King’s Inn Motel, a no-frills establishment by the highway. He said Arndt paid cash every day for his room.
