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The Harrison Police Department announced the indictment on Thursday of 48-year-old Michael Trumbore, a Pennsylvania resident, for his role in the June 30, 2011, bank robbery at 402 Halstead Ave. The indictment charges Trumbore with robbery, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property -- all third-degree felonies.
According to Harrison police, the suspect is currently serving prison time for robbing banks and stealing cars in Pennsylvania.
On the day of the Harrison bank robbery, according to police, the suspect spent a short period of time in the bank before handing a teller a note stating: “Give me $50, 20, 10 & 5 Bills, I have a gun and I will use it.”
The bank teller reportedly handed the defendant $5,510 in cash. The defendant subsequently fled Chase Bank on foot before Harrison Police were notified.
Harrison detectives spent months locating and interviewing witnesses and following leads. A photo of the bank robber from the Chase Bank surveillance video was sent out to news media and to the law enforcement community, but still, there was no indication as to the robbery suspect's identity.
Harrison detectives recovered property from the crime scene, believed to have been left by the bank robber, and submitted it to the Westchester County Forensics Lab for DNA analysis. Initially, the DNA submitted did not match DNA records contained in the DNA database.
Harrison Police Chief Anthony Marraccini said he did not want the 2011 bank robbery case to remain unsolved and directed investigators to resubmit the recovered evidence to utilize new advances in forensic DNA technology and any additional DNA submissions that were added to the DNA database.
The renewed efforts of the Harrison Police Department and the Westchester County Forensics Lab proved to be rewarding. The DNA profile obtained from the property left by the bank robber matched a DNA profile in the National DNA Index System (NDIS) -- belonging to Michael Trumbore, according to Harrison police.
After receiving details about the DNA profile match, Harrison detectives went to the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution in Waynesburg, Pa., where they met with Trumbore, who is currently in prison for car larcenies and bank robberies he was convicted of committing in Pennsylvania.
Harrison police said on Thursday that Trumbore confessed to detectives that he robbed the Chase Bank in Harrison five years ago.
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