TOWN OF HUNTINGTON
PD: Bank Heists Increasing In Suffolk
Huntington Station woman among those arrested for 11 robberies in two months
By Amanda Lindne/alindner@longislandernews.com

A Huntington Station woman was arrested for her alleged role in Suffolk County's 11th bank robbery in the past two months.

Dashona Minor, 26, was arrested last Wednesday after she allegedly robbed a Bank of Smithtown branch in Kings Park. Police said she passed a note with a written demand to a teller, grabbed the handful of cash from the counter and fled. Minor was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny when she was found in a nearby nail salon.

While Suffolk County police say the number of bank robberies appear to be higher than usual, the trend apparently ebbs and flows. The incidents often increase during economic downturns, according to the American Bankers Association. Police sources said multiple factors make it difficult to pinpoint any specific reason for the recent bank robbing episodes.

Some of those factors, however, may have more to do with the banks than the bandits. For one, there are simply more banks to rob. While financial corporations have consolidated, branches such as Bank of America, Washington Mutual, Citi, Commerce Bank, North Fork and HSBC still blanket much of Suffolk County. There are 400 bank branches in Suffolk County alone and police said more locations equal more targets. Minor's target, The Bank of Smithtown, opened 10 new branches over the past two years and there are four more in development, according to corporation sources.

Besides additional locations that make banking easier, branches have changed to become more customer-friendly as well. Redesigned floor space, extended hours and lack of barriers at teller stations are more attractive to consumers, but may also be attractive to robbers, police said.

Many have done away with "bandit barriers" - a plexi-glass partition separating tellers from customers, which make it easier for a robber to get away with the act, said retired Suffolk Det./Sgt. Robert Doyle in a media interview.

"Banks in which tellers are protected by the presence of bandit barriers have a 'walk away' policy that simply instructs a teller, who feels comfortable in doing so, to walk away from a would-be robber when presented with a note demanding that he or she turn over the money in their cash drawer," said officials with the New York State Banking Department.

Officers from the homicide bureau - which now includes major case - said some recent robberies may be due to the copycat effect. The day after Minor robbed the Kings Park bank, another woman robbed a Medford branch TD Bank.

There's no clear-cut reason as to why people are robbing banks, but whatever the cause, most of them choose to carry out the crime in the same way. It seems the days of the novel Bonnie and Clyde-type heists are over.

"In the end, the most common approach is to step up to a teller and make a demand verbally, with a written note, or both," FBI officials said. Robberies are also most likely to occur on Friday.

A few recent bank jobs have garnered national media attention though thanks to some original costume ideas, including a man wearing a Darth Vader mask who robbed a Chase bank branch in Setauket last month.

According to FBI national statistics, the average bank robber makes off with between $1,500 and $2,000. Last year, robbers took $9.3 million from banks. About 21 percent of that is recovered, equaling to more than $1 million in partial or fully returned loses. Some of the ways the county has been able to recover stolen money is through the use of dye packs and GPS tracking devices within the cash, said the New York State Bankers Association.

"We have a very good solution rate-well over 50 percent," FBI Special Agent Brad Bryant said, leader of the Violent Crimes Unit. Bank robbery is a high-risk crime he added. "Chances are you're going to get caught."

Police ask that anyone with information about a bank crime call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.