College student captured after bank robbery www.privateofficer.com

FITCHBURG MA. June 12 2008 A Fitchburg State College senior was arrested yesterday on charges that he robbed a John Fitch Highway bank at gunpoint before returning to campus.

A police search for suspect Matthew E. Haney triggered a lockdown of the campus and a nearby elementary school.

Hundreds of parents and incoming students were attending an orientation session on the campus at the time, college President Robert V. Antonucci said.

Haney, 25, of 31 Myrtle Ave., is expected to be arraigned today in Fitchburg District Court. He is charged with armed robbery while masked and assault with a dangerous weapon. His address is the same as the college’s Sigma Pi fraternity house.
“It is unfortunate that one of our Fitchburg State College students was involved in it,” Mr. Antonucci said yesterday. “It is in no way an indication of the types of students we have.” The incident tested the college’s emergency plans, the president said. Although it was an unfortunate circumstance, he said, he was glad to see the emergency system work. “In any situation like this, safety is the top priority,” he said. “We hope it never happens again on this campus.”

A man entered the Rollstone Bank & Trust branch at 486 John Fitch Highway around 9:50 a.m. and left with about $9,000 in cash, Sgt. Glenn C. Fossa said yesterday.

Police radio reports indicated the man showed a black semiautomatic handgun. Police are still searching for the gun and cash in the holdup.

Witnesses described a gray Ford Focus leaving the scene and provided police with a license plate number, Sgt. Fossa said. The license plate led police to a campus parking lot off Cedar Street. State, local and campus police converged on a campus town house after the car was found on the student lot.

One officer was seen with his weapon drawn as police searched the building. Students and staff were notified of the lockdown using the college’s ConnectEd alert system. E-mails and voicemails were sent out alerting them to “a major incident” on campus. “Local and state police are engaged in an assault on Townhouse 2,” the message, sent at 10:36 a.m., read. “Please remain in your building, and lock the doors. We will provide an update as soon as it is available.”

Another message followed at 11:01 a.m. “The situation on campus has been resolved, as state, local and campus police have apprehended a robbery subject who had fled to campus,” the second message read.

“Everyone on campus can resume their normal activities.” Mr. Antonucci said the campus was in its second day of new-student orientation when the lockdown was reported. He said he informed parents of the incident and assured them that campus safety was a priority. He said he received only a handful of questions from the parents and he encouraged them to sign up for the electronic notification system.

Campus Police Chief James Hamel said the campus-wide alert system had been tested before, but the incident yesterday was the first lockdown since its inception. Interim Chief Information Officer Jamie Roger said the ConnectEd system has been used for other alerts, such as weather-related school closures.

Sgt. Fossa said local police appreciated the cooperation from the campus police force. Rollstone Bank & Trust was formerly Fitchburg Savings Bank. Linda L. Racine, executive vice president of the bank, said no one was hurt in the robbery. She said she could not describe the robbery or disclose the amount of money taken because of the investigation.

“Fitchburg police have been doing a great job with the investigation,” she said yesterday, adding that the bank will reopen this morning.

The lockdown spread to the McKay Campus School, a pre-kindergarten-to-Grade 4 school that is affiliated with the college but is part of the city’s public school system.

John Earley, an associate dean and principal of the school, alerted McKay parents about the lockdown within minutes, using the ConnectEd system.

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