Updated 4:30 pm
Three people robbed the bank, Tisbury Police Chief Chris Habekost said. They were carrying handguns and wore hooded sweatshirts and “Halloween masks,” he said. Massachusetts State Police Trooper Dustin Shaw, who is assigned to the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office, said the suspects are considered “armed and dangerous.” A car stolen from one of the bank employees was dumped near the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest in a small parking lot off Barnes Road. The lot had been cordoned off with yellow caution tape and a State Police police dog could be seen working to find a trail at about 10:40 am.
A source with knowledge of the investigation told The Times trail cameras in the woods picked up images of the suspects fleeing through the woods.
According to Habekost, two employees of the bank were tied up during the armed robbery, but nobody was injured. The FBI has come to the Vineyard along with additional State Police personnel to aid the active investigation.
Late in the day Thursday, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe issued a statement on the robbery saying it occurred at 8:15 am. “Three unknown individuals rushed into the bank as employees entered to open the bank for business. These subjects were masked, gloved and armed with handguns,” according to the statement. “The District Attorney and Chief Habekost want to stress that Island residents should remain vigilant, however, they should not be overly alarmed. This was a targeted crime and there is no additional information that should cause undue fear.”
According to the DA’s statement, all three subjects wore masks like the ones shown in their press release from a photo taken at the scene. “Anyone with information is asked to please contact Tisbury PD @ 508-696-4240 or Trooper Dustin Shaw @ 508-693- 0545,” the release states.
Also on Thursday night, there was a lot of helicopter activity on the Island, as well as an apparent meeting of law enforcement officials at State Police headquarters in Oak Bluffs.
For a time on Thursday, the focus of the investigation shifted to the Holiday Inn on Jones Road in Falmouth. Dozens of police officers and emergency personnel swarmed the scene and students at the nearby Morse Pond and Lawrence schools were first put on a stay in place order and then bused to Falmouth High School out of an abundance of caution, Falmouth Police Chief Ed Dunne said, as state police wearing tactical gear arrived along with armored vehicles.
Dunne told reporters at 3:30 pm that after a search of the hotel, the suspects were not there. He said the focus shifts back to Tisbury and the Island.
“Some information that was developed led us here to this hotel today. With the assistance of the FBI, the State Police, the Falmouth Police we conducted an investigation here and have concluded that the suspects are not here and the investigation will continue on the Island,” Dunne told reporters.
A source with knowledge of the investigation said that the people turned out to be construction workers.
Dunne declined to give specifics on what led the police to the hotel and what was found. “The hotel is safe and no one at the hotel is in any danger,” he said.
Dunne said it’s possible the suspects are still on the Island. “It was part of the investigation that led us here. Information that the State Police, FBI and Tisbury got and followed up by Falmouth and we worked together as a team,” he said.
As for robbing a bank on an Island, Dunne said, “To rob a bank on an Island? I don’t think it was well thought out.”
Dunne said he didn’t know anything about the suspects.
MV Bank shut down their lobbies on the Vineyard and in Falmouth out of an abundance of caution. The Falmouth Holiday Inn was on lockdown during the investigation. Until Jones Road was closed by police, a steady stream of cars passed by slowly, some putting down their windows to ask reporters what was going on.
Back on the Island, former MV Times editor and owner Doug Cabral said he was at the bank at 8:30 am waiting for service at the drive-up window and “shortly found out that [he] was in the middle of a crime scene.”
He said police and forensics personnel kindly advised him to stay put until the scene was safe. Cabral was able to leave the bank around noon.
Lt. William Brigham, who was wearing body armor, told The Times the suspects had white masks and black hoodies on. He added the police are looking at the cameras now, but it’s hard to tell identities. The getaway car belonged to one of the tellers. “The most important thing is that nobody got hurt,” Brigham said.
Habekost said the suspects were also wearing dark pants and one of them may have been wearing white sneakers. He urged the public to use caution and not to approach the suspects.
“The most important thing we want to let the public to know is they are considered armed and dangerous at this point,” Trooper Dustin Shaw said.
Edgartown Police Chief Bruce McNamee was at the scene, as was Shaw.
Tisbury Police issued an alert on social media of an “active police scene at Rockland Trust in Vineyard Haven – confirmed armed robbery with firearms.”
The Rockland Trust is located on Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road. Emily McDonald, Rockland Trust spokesperson, released a statement on Thursday afternoon. “A robbery was committed at our Vineyard Haven branch at approximately 8:15 AM this morning. The matter is under investigation and we are working with the authorities. There were no injuries and everyone is safe. The branch is temporarily closed. All other questions regarding the incident can be directed to the Tisbury Police Department. Our relationship with our customers, employees, and communities is our top priority and their safety is critically important to us. We will continue to apply stringent security measures to safeguard their well-being,” the statement read.
As a result of the investigation Thursday morning, Vineyard Montessori School is on lockdown as a result of the situation. Other schools in the vicinity were also locked down, including Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, and West Tisbury schools. The Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club in Edgartown announced on Facebook that it will be suspending programming Thursday “to ensure club members’ and staff safety and security.”
There were more than a half-dozen of cruisers and police vehicles at the scene and some officers were seen going into the building. The bank parking lot was blocked off with vehicles and caution tape.
At one point, two civilians — a man and a woman — could be seen talking with police. As of 9:30 am, some cruisers have left the scene.
As vehicles drove past the scene on the busy street, they slow to see what’s going on at the bank.
SSA spokesman Sean Driscoll said there’s been no request by police to stop ferry service to and from the Island.
Habekost said police officers are monitoring the ferry terminal. State Police cruisers were monitoring the SSA Vineyard Haven terminal Thursday afternoon. The U.S. Coast Guard isn’t involved in the search for the suspects, according to Petty Officer Briana Carter.
What’s the reward amount ?
Dogs being airlifted to Island. State Police spokesman David Procopio said K-9s were being airlifted to the island by the State Police Air Wing, according to Globe
Listen if the cops can’t find THREE people on a island like they could be in Boston dancing in the streets of Hyannis if you guys don’t find them by 7-8 good chance our police officers don’t and can’t do there jobs
Huh?
I believe bank robberies are investigated by FBI, and their conviction rate is deterringly high.
As far as the efficacy of Vineyard police goes, it has already been… established.
Catching criminals is difficult and dangerous, so the local cops are far more successful at taking citizens and converting them into criminals.
There are a distressing number of bank robberies that go unsolved, more than you’d think, percentage wise. Bank robberies, especially in this region, fall into one of two categories based on who commits the robbery. Robberies are either A) poorly planned and usually unsuccessful acts of desperation carried out by people with mental illness and/or severe addiction issues…or B) the work of a small and disciplined group with a well developed strategy that they execute like professionals. The second group is much much much less likely to get caught because they aren’t going to panic or make rookie mistakes. The group that robbed the RT yesterday were of the second group, they went in with a clear strategy, effective disguises that obfuscated skin tone/body type/facial features etc etc, and a well thought out exit plan. Those guys were probably clear of MV on a small boat headed for the mainland .+ next phase of the plan within 15 mins of departing in the tellers car. The fact that the closest the police/fbi have gotten to solving this was the embarrassing incident where they called in swat teams to deal with a group of innocent construction guys staying at the Falmouth Holiday Inn makes me feel comfortable saying law enforcement still has zero idea who robbed the bank.
You would be correct if the tellers car were found near a beach or boat landing. Where was it found? Or they took the tellers car and joined up with another car in a previously decided spot. They are gone.
They do now.
Peter,
My thoughts exactly. Small practiced, disciplined group, executed this with precision. One and done.
Would be interesting to hear how they exited the island. Too many cameras at the steamship authority.
75% percent are solved, 25% remain unsolved.
Let’s see which side this case falls on. My money is on the FBI solving it.
I hope the bank employees are doing as best as they can be after this. I hope everyone is staying safe.
Be safe, officers and doggies, too.
I hope the bank staff involve have someone in there corner to help them though this very sad can’t imagine what there going though
I am pretty sure it was delinquent dinghies that did this!! We must get our parents and teachers help solve the delinquent dinghies problem.
CCTV?
These comments are inappropriate. Nothing funny here. Please stop bad jokes or disparaging comments. I know we live in a time in which the examples that have been set for public discourse are crudeness and ugliness. But maybe it is time to return to civility.
Thank you to our law enforcement officers — state, local and federal. Please stay safe as you work to resolve this situation. You have our support.
Thanks Vicki…. glad to see there is still some decency around…. some people are just down right mean and nasty…. glad im not them…
Thanks to law enforcement for all they do!
It’s not nasty, uncivil, or mean to joke when you’re scared. It’s human nature and healthy. When I read the robbers were wearing white masks and hoodies, I joked (to myself) that at least they were wearing masks. How considerate of them. But I knew not to post it, not because “it’s too soon” or because I’ve carried on endlessly about the importance of taking covid precautions, but because I didn’t want to give the scolds ammunition.
It doesn’t take much to wake them up to post something “morally” dictatorial on here.
“Morally Dictatorial” I like that! Seems more appropriate than “Holier than thou”
One of the reasons I moved here 30 + yrs ago is that I read in the newspaper how a man robbed a bank on island. In the process the man, without a mask was holding the teller up with a bow and arrow. The teller spoke to the man, by name, and told him he shouldn’t be robbing the bank. Easy to guess the outcome.
I have and still feel safer here but even that is being tested with the number of murders reported over the years and now this robbery.
Those men (?) definately needed to find some other thing to fill their time rather than scaring the B-Jesus out of hard working bank tellers. If or when they get caught my hope is they don’t get the slap on the wrist and sent to the Edgartown jail where it’s cushy. They should know Bubba will be waiting out in Concord, one of those big boy prisons, for them.
If convicted they will spend years in prison.
What part of innocent until proven guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, don’t you get?
So many questions not answered by the story, starting with “When were police notified and how soon did monitoring start at the SSA dock?” I’m curious about the assumption that the perps might be in Falmouth. A big disincentive for this sort of crime would seem to be getting off the island with the loot. Any ideas about how, and whether, they did it? This brings up the question of approximately how much loot they got away with. Are there legal or journalistic or practical reasons not to mention this? P.S. Did Doug Cabral have to “stay put” — wait in his car at the drive-up window — until noon?? Somehow sitting in one’s car with the keys in the ignition doesn’t seem to be the safest place to be with bank robbers on the loose.
Any details we know are in the story.
Different people react to frightening situations differently. Some people make jokes. I’d rather laugh through my fear, worry, and upset than suppress and internalize the anxiety. It’s healthier. One persons joked that DeSantis sent then. That’s funny, whether or not the usual island scolds approve.
So sorry for those at the bank who’ve been terrified by this, and others, including parents who received alarming texts about their children sheltering in place but no details. Hope the robbers are caught today so everyone can breathe a big sigh of relief. Scary times.
I hope that the people who were tied up come out of this come out of this OK.
Martha’s Vineyard Fantasy Island’s balloon gets popped again.
This time it was not a squirt gun or bows and arrows.
If I hear another story about the happy people of MV pulling together and dispelling adversity l’m going to crawl under a rock and binge on “The Prisoner” episodes…
Jeez, haven’t you all got anything else to do?
Are you new here?
I’ve been on island long enough to have been the diver who found the holes in the sinking Islander that had hit rocks off of OB in 1980.
Later in the day I gained some notoriety when I was placed in a lead network evening news story in Boston, whereupon trying to appear to have a brain, and describing the “elliptical holes in the ferry ……blah blah blah)” , (because l was suffering from hypothermia— it was March) —-I then burped and wiped snot on my wetsuit sleeve which made me a minor celebrity among some young viewers. Basically, I started the coarsening of America, paving the way for Trump.
It’s difficult for the public to contribute when we have no information.
These guys secured a tellers car keys. There had to have been a conversation along with observation.
Were they tall, short, fat, thin, young , old?
Did anyone have any unusual speech pattern or accent?
Whoops….. don’t want to offend anyone…..
One of them was light skinned according to police as reported in Gazette. Not sure what that meant.
Go get them Bitcoin now
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