Joel Robbins got away with over $10,000 at 3 bank robberies
The average take for a bank robbery is about $3,500.
Joel Robbins was doing better than that last year.
He got away with over $10,000 at three bank robberies, and $5,000 at another. And he racked up a gas station robbery and liquor store heists, too.
But the one that got him caught was a mess: He fled a TD Bank branch in Mahwah with $10,665, but his getaway driver fell out of their car when they tried to swap seats. When he finally got behind the wheel he hit a curb, blew a tire and crashed the car.
When cops surrounded him on Dec. 3, 2017, stolen cash was all over the car and sticking out of his pants, federal authorities say.
Officers also found a fake black handgun, and the sunglasses, bandana, knit cap and latex gloves that he was spotted wearing in the nearby branch he’d just held up on Route 17, according to courts documents.
Robbins, 47, admitted his crimes Wednesday in federal court in Newark, pleading guilty to robbing the four banks and two businesses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey announced.
In addition to the Mahwah robbery, Robbins robbed a Chase Bank in Whippany, Hanover Township on June 6 of $15,000, a Santander Bank in Parsippany on July 20 of $16,538 and a Chase branch in Edgewater on Oct. 25 of $5,000.
He held up the Liquor Factory in Hopatcong on Oct. 15 and the Raceway gasoline station in Pinebrook, Montville Township on Nov. 26. The amount stolen in those crimes were not listed in federal court papers.
The bank robbery case against Robbins’s alleged getaway driver, Wanda Soel, 52, of Hasbrouck Heights, is ongoing. She was arrested with him following the Dec. 3 Mahwah robbery.
Robbins’ sentencing date was not listed Wednesday.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2018/07/man_busted_after_bank_robbery_with_cash_sticking_o.html