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Douglas Conroy, 60, entered Provident bank on Union Avenue in Bridgewater shortly before noon Dec. 23, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office said. Conroy approached a teller and demanded she fill a plastic bag with cash, according to the prosecutor's office. The teller walked away without handing over any money and Conroy left, authorities also said.
A man matching Conroy's description entered the Chase bank on South Davenport Street in Somerville around 2:30 p.m. that day. Conroy again approached a teller and ordered him to place cash in a plastic bag. Conroy told the teller he had a gun, authorities said. He fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of money.
A customer at the bank who is a retired Bernards police officer was alerted to the robbery and followed Conroy as Conroy fled towards a nearby ShopRite supermarket. The officer took a photo of Conroy's vehicle, which was then broadcast to area law enforcement.
A detective with the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office spotted the vehicle near a third bank, the Wells Fargo branch on West Main Street in Somerville, as the detective was responding to the Chase bank robbery. Conroy was arrested shortly afterwards with assistance from the Somerville police department.
Conroy was being held at the Somerset County jail pending a bail hearing.
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