Behind a bank-robbing spree
Suspects in central N.J. heists were inspired by Hollywood, according to a court filing.
NEWARK, N.J. - The four men charged in a string of central New Jersey bank robberies that led to the death of an FBI agent last spring were prepared to shoot it out with police, and drew inspiration from a movie based on a deadly California robbery from 10 years earlier.
Court papers filed last month quote suspect Efrain Lynn telling federal investigators that the men had been prepared to "go at it," and had referred to the movie
44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out
when discussing what to do if they encountered police.
The movie is a dramatization of a 1997 bank robbery in which two heavily armed robbers wounded 11 police officers and six civilians, then were shot and killed by police. The shoot-out was broadcast live on television.
Lynn, Wilfredo Berrios and Francisco Herrera-Genao face robbery, weapons and conspiracy counts stemming from four bank robberies in early 2007. A fourth suspect, Michael Cruz, has pleaded guilty.
Cruz, Berrios and Herrera-Genao were apprehended April 5 when a fifth robbery attempt was reported. In the ensuing gunfire, FBI Special Agent Barry Lee Bush, 52, was accidentally shot and killed by another agent, according to the FBI. Lynn was not with the other three and was arrested at an unidentified location.
According to the FBI, the suspects carried two assault rifles and a handgun but did not fire their weapons.
Berrios and Herrera-Genao are due in federal court in Trenton tomorrow for a hearing in front of U.S. District Chief Judge Garrett E. Brown Jr. All four suspects have been held without bail since their arrests.
Though the four suspects are not charged with killing Bush, they could face longer sentences if they are convicted and the sentencing judge rules that their actions contributed to his death.
The details on the suspects appear in a Feb. 15 court filing by the U.S. Attorney's Office in response to defense motions that are to be considered tomorrow. It describes a loose group of friends who worked at various times at a North Brunswick warehouse.
A company that provided security at the warehouse employed Lynn, known as "Pepino"; Herrera-Genao ("Fongi"); and Cruz, according to investigators. Berrios, nicknamed "RoboCop," worked in the warehouse at the time of the robberies.
The filing also includes a statement to authorities by one of the suspects, whose identity has been shielded because of rules governing post-arrest statements.
In the statement, the suspect expressed misgivings about robbing the PNC Bank in Readington on the day the FBI agent was killed.
"I didn't want to rob this bank because we didn't have a stolen car, and I had a bad feeling about this robbery," the statement said. "I also didn't like the location of the bank, but one of the guys I was working with said he needed money and was determined to rob this bank."
In one robbery, according the statement, the suspect leaped over a counter and fired a shot that hit a window separating the tellers from customers, showering glass onto a teller. Later in the statement, he apologizes for injuring the woman.
He also claimed to have developed a taste for robbing banks, according to the statement.
"I had only intended to do one bank robbery, but I got addicted," the suspect was quoted as saying.
The group apparently grew bolder with each robbery. According to the statement Lynn gave to investigators, the men robbed a Bank of America branch in Ocean Township despite finding a state police car parked nearby.
The group drove to the local police headquarters and back "in order to estimate the department's response time," Lynn told investigators, then waited for the police car to leave and proceeded with the robbery.
Lynn also described how he was instructed to make a 911 call and report a bogus bank robbery to lead police away from a Commerce Bank in Piscataway that was robbed Feb. 8, 2007. He said he had become so nervous that he hadn't made the call and instead had thrown the cell phone into a river so his accomplices couldn't check the outgoing call log.
A trial is not likely to begin until at least May, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Herrera-Genao and Lynn entered insanity pleas, and psychological evaluations have taken several months.
In addition, Berrios' attorneys, William Harth and F. Kevin Lynch, have asked to be removed from the case. In a court filing, the attorneys said Berrios "has blatantly refused to compensate counsel" and has become "increasingly uncooperative" in the preparation of his defense.
