LYNN — Cesar Rivera, 39, of 84 River St., was arrested for charges of armed and masked bank robbery and false report of a bomb threat, Lt. Paul A. Cotter said.
Dispatch received a report of a possible bank robbery at the Eastern Bank on 112 Market St. shortly after 9 a.m., Cotter said. Officers later detained and arrested Rivera at 11:32 a.m. and successfully recovered more than $20,000 stolen from the bank.
Officers were in the area of the Eastern Bank and responded to the call within one minute, Cotter said. Once on the scene, they were informed the suspect had passed a note to the bank teller with a bomb threat and received cash.
The suspect fled the bank and went to Brothers Deli on Market Street, Cotter said. The suspect then ordered a taxi and later used some of the stolen money to purchase items out of the city.
Detectives used CCTV footage at the bank to tentatively identify the suspect, Cotter said. Rivera was wearing a COVID-19 mask, but the detectives identified a tattoo above his mask and connected it to his previous arrest.
Detectives called local taxi companies and identified Rivera as being in a taxi owned by Garcia’s Taxi, Cotter said. Officers conducted a traffic stop of the taxi on Curwin Circle in Lynn.
Rivera was in the taxi with a sum of cash equal to the amount stolen from the bank and was then positively identified by one of the bank tellers, Cotter said.
He said the combined effort of the day officers and detectives led to a successful arrest and recovery of the stolen money in less than two hours of the call to dispatch.
