Feds: Convicted Bank Robber Charged In Saddle Brook, Paterson, Clifton Jobs

SADDLE BROOK, N.J. -- Federal agents charged an ex-con convicted of robbing banks in 1996 and 2004 with holding up three others the past week in Saddle Brook, Clifton and Paterson.

James Maurice Chestnut
Photo Credit: *COURTESY: Saddle Brook PD*

He wore a Los Angeles Rams football camp and a polo shirt in the Saddle Brook holdup, police said.
Photo Credit: *SURVEILLANCE PHOTO: Courtesy SADDLE BROOK PD*

Jerry DeMarco

07/07/2017 4:30 p.m.

FBI agents trailing James Maurice Chestnut, 62, of Paterson took him into custody in Passaic on Thursday, authorities said.

Acting U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick said they charged Chestnut federally with:

entering a TD Bank in Paterson on June 30 and handing a teller a note stating “Put 100s and 50s in the envelope. No dye pack”;

entering an Investors Bank in Clifton on Wednesday, pointing a firearm at the teller and saying: “Open your drawer. Give me your money. All the 100s. Don’t call the cops or I’ll shoot you.”

In addition, Saddle Brook police charged Chestnut with an abortive holdup in between the two Passaic jobs.

This past Monday, they said, Chestnut entered the Chase Bank on Market Street in Saddle Brook and made what authorities said was an "incoherent" demand for money.

"Due to the quick actions of the bank teller, [Chestnut] fled with no proceeds," Detective Capt. John Zotollo told Daily Voice.

"The success of this investigation was the result of good police work and effective networking of all agencies involved," Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler said.

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