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Caio Costa approached a teller at the Salem Five Bank at 2171 Main St. wearing a motorcycle helmet to cover his face and demanded cash, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said.
“Give me all your money, and I’m not leaving here without the hundreds," he told the teller, according to authorities. They complied and handed over more than $7,000 in cash.
Costa jumped on his motorcycle in the parking and sped off with police in hot pursuit. He reached speeds of more than 100 mph as he led officers through Tewksbury and into Lawrence, where he crashed and ran off on foot, authorities said.
Police arrested him in a Salem, N.H., hotel a few days later with stacks of money in his room, the prosecutor said.
During his interview with police, Costa admitted to the Salem Five Banks heist and other armed bank robberies in August and September 2020, the prosecutor said. He led police back to where he'd ditched the clothes he wore during the Tewksbury burglary and the loaded pistol he tossed into a dumpster during his getaway.
Costa pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery and using and carrying a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, the US Attorney's Office said. A judge sentenced him to 90 months in prison.
“Mr. Costa terrorized the employees and patrons of a local community bank, all in pursuit of greed,” US Attorney Rachael Rollins said in the release when he was arrested. “His dangerous actions put lives at serious risk, from brandishing a firearm during the robbery to his reckless efforts to evade police.”
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