Cooperative Bank Robbery Foiled by Good Samaritan

Authorities caught with a little help from an alert (and brave) bystander.

Jim Andrea told WHDH that he happened to be in the this morning to cash a check when he noticed the robber’s wig and the fear in the cashier’s eyes.

When the robber left the bank, Andrea told 7 News, he tackled him in the parking lot and pinned him there until police arrived.

“I just kept his hands away from his belt,” Andrea said. “I didn’t know if he had a knife or a gun.”

Andrea told the station that the tussle felt like it lasted a long time, but probably only extended about three minutes.

Chris Bulger, a passerby, caught a photo of the scene shortly after the robbery. The shot appears to show evidence of Andrea’s handiwork: the robber’s wig—which Bulger noted looked a bit like a dead cat.

The suspect Andrea detained, Robert Krol, 32 of Charlestown, was held today and will be arraigned tomorrow on multiple charges, according to the District Attorney's office. The bank reopened shortly after the incident.