Bank Robbery Suspect Arrested in Somerville

A Medford bank teller was in line at Dunkin' Donuts in Medford Square on May 9 when she spotted a familiar face. Two days ealier her bank, Members Plus Credit Union, just a few doors down, had been robbed. She was the teller to whom the bank robber had passed the demand note. As she waited for coffee on the morning of May 9, the alleged robber was waiting behind her in the same line, according to a police report.

On May 10, the day after this encounter encounter in the Dunkin' Donuts, Jason Souza, 29, of Charlestown, was arrested in Somerville, near the intersection of McGrath Highway and Mystic Avenue, a warrant charge of unarmed robbery, according to Medford Police.

Police believe Souza robbed the Members Plus Credit Union in Medford Square on May 7 and the Sovereign Bank on Rutherford Avenue in Charlestown on May 8.

In both robberies, Souza allegedly wore a hooded sweatshirt and gloves and gave the tellers a note that demanded money and threatened their lives, according to a report written by FBI Bank Robbery Joint Task Force officer John Oliveira.

Souza allegedly made off with $2,055 in the Medford robbery and $500 in Charlestown. Souza allegedly used a grey minivan that was stolen from the parking lot of Tedeschi's Convenience Store in Medford on May 7. The van was recovered shortly after the robbery.

Surveillance images from the robberies and descriptions from witnesses had already led police to suspect Souza before the Dunkin' Donuts sighting, according to the report. The joint task force and Medford Police were staking out a home at 23 Cedar Street in Medford, where they believed Souza lived, when they received a report from Medford police headquarters that the teller who was passed the note in the Medford robbery spotted the suspect, the report said.

The teller had stopped at Dunkin' Donuts on Riverside Avenue in Medford at about 7:30 a.m. on her way to work at the Members Plus Credit Union, the report said. As she waited in line she glanced behind her and spotted a familiar face—the man who passed her the demand note two days earlier, the report said.

"He immediately placed his head down and would not make eye contact with her," Oliveira wrote.

Investigators reviewed the video surveillance from Dunkin' Donuts, which showed a man wearing a baseball cap, a black hooded sweatshirt and track pants, the report said.

Shortly after the spotting at Dunkin' Donuts, Oliveira received a call from Boston police Detective John Boyle, who said he had reviewed surveillance from the robbery in Charlestown and could identify the suspect as Souza, who was known to him, Oliveira's report said.

Souza was arrested about 11:30 a.m. Thursday at an undisclosed location, according to police records. He was arraigned in Somerville District Court Friday morning, where Judge Maurice Flynn set bail at $15,000 cash, $150,000 surety bond. He is expected to appear in court next on June 5 for a hearing.

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