BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
WOODBRIDGE – A robbery at the Commerce Bank located at 900 St. Georges Ave. last week makes it the third time the bank was robbed in less than two months.
The third robbery occurred at approximately 2:15 p.m. on Jan. 10. Police released surveillance photographs of the suspect wanted in the mid-afternoon robbery. The suspect entered the bank, waited in line for an available teller, approached the counter, and handed a crumbled dark plastic bag and demand note to the teller, police said.
After waiting for the teller to read the note, the suspect advised the teller to not activate the alarm and to fill the bag with money, police said.
Moments later, the suspect grabbed the bag, walked out of the bank and fled the scene in a blue, four-door, compact passenger vehicle that was driven by a black female, police said.
Police said while the suspect did not display a weapon, the suspect indicated that he had a “gun” in the note that he handed to the teller.
The suspect is described as a 6-foot-3-inch black male, approximately 30 years old, with a medium build and wearing glasses. At the time of the robbery, the suspect was wearing a dark-colored hooded jacket, dark pants and sneakers, police said.
The bank was hit with two other separate robberies in November and December.
The second robbery occurred at 10:37 a.m. on Dec. 21.
Police in that robbery are looking for a black male between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall, in his late 20s or early 30s. At the time of the robbery, the male was wearing a black jacket, blue jeans, and a white New York Yankees cap, police said.
The man handed the teller a note demanding money and threatening to have a possible weapon. He walked out of the bank with an undisclosed amount of money, police said.
On Nov. 26, a bank teller, who told police that he was robbed as he was working at the Commerce Bank, was arrested and charged in connection with that robbery, along with another man, according to police reports.
PROVIDED BY WOODBRIDGE Police department Tony Gonzalez, 18, of Longfellow Drive in Carteret, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit a bank robbery, police said.
After intensive surveillance, police arrested and charged Dominic McKenzie Jr., 19, of Tyler Street in Carteret, with the first-degree robbery, at 8:37 p.m. on Nov. 27 in front of his residence, police said.
Gonzalez was released on his own recognizance, and McKenzie was transported to the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick on $150,000 bail with no 10 percent option on Nov. 29, according to police.
Anyone with information that might aid in identifying the suspects is encouraged to contact the Woodbridge Police Department at (732) 634-7700, Detective Dean Janowski at (732) 602-7369, or Detective Sgt. Joseph Nisky at (732) 602-7311. All information will remain confidential.