Lynn bank robbery suspect held on $25G bail

LYNN – A judge ordered $25,000 cash bail for a city man who police said admitted to robbing Eastern Bank twice and also trying to rob Century Bank within the last six months.”(The defendant) wanted it known he did not want to hurt anyone and apologized to the tellers and personnel involved for his actions,” Lynn Police Officer Paul Galatis wrote in a report. “He stated he has had a drug problem the past year as well as medical issues and things have gotten bad since his mother passed away two years ago.”Robert Hamilton, 55, of 86 Sheridan St., pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Lynn District Court to attempt to commit a crime; and intimidate to steal from a depository, two counts.The alleged incidents occurred April 18 and Oct. 2 at the Eastern Bank at 112 Market St. and at Century Bank at 2 State St. on Sept. 15.Police received a phone call from Eastern Bank on April 18 where a person said “we need the police” and then hung up, Lynn Police Officer Thomas Mulvey wrote in a report. Police arrived at the bank and learned that a white male measuring approximately 6-feet 2-inches tall and wearing a Patriots knit cap and glasses had passed a note to a teller demanding “20s, 50s, 100s.” The note was written on lined, white paper that looked like it had been torn from a notebook, police said the teller reported.The suspect left the bank with $2,970, police said.Police said the Sept. 15 incident began the same way except that after the suspect passed a note, a bank manager approached him and asked him to remove his glasses. The suspect complies and leaves without any money.The Oct. 2 incident allegedly mirrored the first – with the suspect even approaching the same teller he had approached nearly six months earlier. The suspect left with $3,150, police said.Police said photos from the banks’ surveillance cameras led to several tips identifying Hamilton as the suspect.Hamilton at first denied knowing anything about the bank robberies but admitted he looked like the person in the surveillance photos, police reported.Police said Hamilton allowed officers to search his room and police found notes with handwriting that matched the handwriting on the notes used in the alleged robberies and attempted robbery.Told this, Hamilton identified himself as the person in each of the surveillance photos, police reported.Essex Assistant District Attorney Brendan Kelley requested Hamilton be held on $50,000 cash bail. He said that Hamilton had spent eight years in jail for armed assault to rob and had a four-page record.Defense Attorney James O’Shea called the bail request “excessive.” He said Hamilton had stayed out of trouble since being released from jail in 2004 and worked in ship repair. But Hamilton became addicted to painkillers after his leg was smashed by a cable at a jobsite, O’Shea reported. He asked for a bail based on the defendant’s more recent history.Judge Ellen Flatley ordered Hamilton held on $25,000 cash bail and scheduled him to return to court Nov. 13.