TEWKSBURY — A 37-year-old Methuen man who is a suspect in several recent bank robberies, and a 36-year-old Methuen woman who allegedly drove a getaway car, are both facing charges in connection with a Tuesday afternoon robbery at Santander Bank on Main Street in Tewksbury.
Chief Ryan Columbus said in a press release that officers were called to the bank at Main and Livingston streets at 9:56 a.m., for a report of a robbery.
Police were told the suspects fled in a white Ford Ranger pickup, and Tewksbury police coordinated a response with help from witnesses that included K-9 Officer Colin Trelegan, who was working a detail in the area, and Officer Markus McMahon, Columbus siad.
It was Trelegan and McMahon who located a white Ford Ranger pickup on Shawsheen Street near Dascomb Road, and took O’Neil and Diaz-Lebel into custody, according to Columbus. An undisclosed amount of cash was recovered inside the pickup, according to the chief.
“The FBI Bank Robbery Task Force responded and assisted, as O’Neil is a suspect in several other bank robberies,” Columbus wrote in a press release.
Columbus said could not say which other robberies O’Neil is suspected in without first checking with the FBI.
Dracut and Lowell are among local communities which have recently had unarmed robberies at Santander Banks involving a white male suspect who wore a mask, as previously reported in The Sun.
O’Neil and Diaz-Lebel are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Lowell District Court.
Tewksbury Police ask anyone in town who believes they see suspicious activity to call them at 978-851-7373, or to leave an anonymous tip at 978-851-0175, or tewks_detectives@tewksbury-ma.gov.
