Man who robbed Swampsott bank in 2006 gets four years behind bars

SALEM – A bank robber who stole approximately $12,000 from a Swampscott bank after leaping over the counter and emptying four cash drawers in 2006 will spend the next four years behind bars.Michael Ritson, 27, of 2 Third St., Medford, pleaded guilty to larceny from a building and receiving stolen property over $250 in Salem Superior Court Friday.He will serve four years in state prison before being placed on probation for another three years. He also will have to pay $300 in restitution.But the prison term imposed will run along with a term of incarceration for a similar crime out of Middlesex County, as part of the plea negotiations worked out by Assistant District Attorney Michael P. Hickey and court appointed defense lawyer Denise Regan.Judge Howard J. Whitehead sentenced Ritson in accordance with the proposed recommendation by Hickey and Regan.On Aug. 21, 2006 Ritson entered the Citizens Bank in Vinnin Square, jumped over the counter and cleaned out four cash draws, amounting to approximately $12,000.He fled from the bank, but left his palm print behind.The case went unsolved, until November when Ritson was arrested in Middlesex on another bank robbery. An alert police officer recognized him from a description broadcast by Swampscott police. A comparison was taken, finding they matched.A third charge of unarmed robbery was dropped because Hickey felt there was not enough evidence to warrant the charge. When Ritson entered the bank and leaped over the counter, no teller was in proximity of him and no one was in fear. Ritson never threatened the employees and did not show a weapon.Ritson was indicted by an Essex County grand jury in September 2007.The judge credited Ritson the 140 days he has spent in jail awaiting trial on the case.