Third man arrested after armed robbery of Martha’s Vineyard bank

BOSTON — A third man is now facing charges related to an armed robbery of a Martha’s Vineyard bank during which employees were bound by duct tape and plastic restraints last month, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Romane Andre Clayton, 21, of Jamaica, was arrested on Friday in Connecticut and charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact to armed bank robbery. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.

Two other men, Miquel A. Jones and Omar Odion Johnson, were previously arrested and charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston on Dec. 1. Jones and Johnson remain in state custody on related charges.

According to the charging documents, on the morning of Nov. 17, three masked and armed people forced their way into the rear door of the Rockland Trust bank in Tisbury. All three suspects were wearing dark colored clothing and white masks resembling an elderly man with exaggerated facial features.

According to witnesses, each of the suspects were allegedly carrying what appeared to be semi-automatic handguns. Video surveillance also showed that one of the suspects was carrying what appeared to be a walkie-talkie.

Once inside the bank, one of the suspects allegedly held a gun to the head of one of the bank employees and forced him to open the bank’s vault. The suspects allegedly entered the vault and took approximately $39,100, then bound the employees with duct tape and plastic zip ties, demanded access to one of their vehicles, and left the premises in an employee’s car, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A short time after the robbery, the stolen car was found in a parking lot approximately 2.3 miles from the bank. Minutes later, the suspects allegedly left the parking lot in another vehicle.

According to the charging documents, Jones and Johnson were identified as suspects, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Subsequent searches by investigators recovered three $100 bills and clothing consistent with the robbers in Jones’ car; a black handgun from Johnson’s home; and paperwork reflecting both a money transfer to Jamaica in the approximate amount of $700 and cash deposits in the amount of $4,100 made at a bank in Connecticut in Johnson’s car.

According to the charging documents, investigators also searched the Tisbury farm used by a local landscaping company which employs Jones, and they found a glove, paper money band, zip tie and multiple rubber band – items consistent with the bank robbery, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

During the search, investigators saw an area that appeared to have had a recent fire, and found burnt pieces of nylon, white metal plastic consistent with a white mask, burnt walkie-talkie pieces, an antennae, batteries and pieces of metal consistent with a duffle bag zipper.

Within a few feet of the burned area, investigators found two semi-automatic handguns loaded with 9mm ammunition and buried inches under the ground. These items, including the handguns, were consistent with items used by the suspects when they robbed the Rockland Trust bank, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Less than 40 minutes after the robbery, at approximately 8:58 a.m. on Nov. 17, surveillance video obtained from the Steamship Authority ferry terminal in Vineyard Haven shows Clayton arriving in a silver sedan to a parking lot near the ferry terminal, parking the vehicle, purchasing ferry tickets and boarding a ferry at 9:21 a.m.

Approximately 30 minutes later, at 9:53 a.m., surveillance video shows Johnson allegedly arriving to the same parking lot and getting into the driver’s seat of the silver sedan Clayton had previously arrived in, and parked before boarding a ferry. Surveillance video shows Johnson allegedly driving the silver sedan to the vehicle reservation clerk booth, purchasing a vehicle ferry ticket and boarding a freight ferry in the silver sedan at 12:24 p.m.

On Nov. 19, Jones was arrested on state charges of accessory after the fact and was later charged with armed and masked bank robbery in Edgartown District Court.

On Nov. 25, a criminal complaint and warrant were issued by the Edgartown District Court charging Johnson with masked and armed robbery of the Rockland Trust bank. Johnson was located and arrested in New Haven, Conn., and was taken into state custody. The investigation remains active and ongoing.

The charge of being an accessory after the fact to armed bank robbery provides for a sentence of up to 150 months in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

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