An alleged serial bank robber has been taken in by the FBI after a long-running string of thefts up and down I-91 in New England.
Dubbed “The Route 91 Bandit” at one point, Taylor Dziczek, 30, was taken into custody without incident after being found at his home in Chicopee, Mass., according to the FBI Boston Division.
Dziczek was arrested on a federal criminal complaint that stemmed from a robbery in Connecticut earlier in the year, though, according to the complaint, he was a suspect in multiple other bank robberies in the state, as well as Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
In total, law officials have been investigating at least 14 robberies and one attempted robbery that may involve Dziczek, all at banks and credit unions throughout New England that occurred between September 2021 and August 2022.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, Dziczek was identified as a suspect who robbed a Peoples United Bank in Plainville, Conn., on May 26. An investigation found he had entered the bank and approached the teller counter, giving an employee a note that implied he had a gun while telling her not to call 911 or trigger alarms.
“When the teller stated she did not have any more money, Dziczek pulled what appeared to be a black firearm from the front pocket of his sweatshirt and made additional statements including ‘Give me all the money,’ ‘I have a gun,’ and ‘Don‘t be a hero,'” the press release stated.
Dziczek then allegedly removed paper money wrappers from the cash he received and threw them out before fleeing, which were later retrieved by police. Months later, FBI special agents surveilling Dziczek while he was at the MGM Casino in Springfield, Mass., retrieved a Red Bull can that had a straw he apparently drank from.
A lab analysis was able to match DNA from the straw with DNA on the discarded money wrappers from Plainville, leading to his apprehension.
Following his arrest, Dziczek appeared before a U.S. Magistrate judge in Hartford on Thursday, Dec. 1, and was ordered detained.
As proceedings continue, the U.S. Attorney’s Office noted that the charge of bank robbery carried a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)