By Ken Rossignol
THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY
ANNAPOLIS, MD. — What causes a convicted child molester to suddenly step up the advancement of his criminal career by robbing eight banks over the course of a few weeks?
With all the bank robberies in the region, how does the FBI crack a case?
Court documents reveal facts which will likely put one accused Maryland bank robber behind bars for much of his life and answer at least the second question.
Tony Derrell Bunch, 32, who was charged with eight bank robberies in April, had been arrested on three counts of armed robbery in Anne Arundel County on April 10, 2014 prior to being charged in a federal warrant issued by the FBI.
The Anne Arundel County arrest for a bank robbery which took place on April 4, 2014 was dropped by the Anne Arundel County States Attorney on May 6th, after his arrest by the FBI.
Bunch is a resident of 1029 E. Baltimore Street in Baltimore, Md.
Bunch is a registered sex offender and was charged in 2012 for failing to notify and for submitting false information to police according to records on file in Baltimore City District Court. On Dec. 4, 2012, he was convicted as part of a plea deal in Baltimore City Circuit Court and sentenced to 3 months and 13 days in jail.
FBI Special Agent Robert D. Dane filed an affidavit on April 11, 2014 in support of a criminal complaint against Bunch in which he described the bank robberies.
Agent Dane wrote:
“On March 24, 2014, at about 10:09 a.m., Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD) responded to the Wells Fargo Bank, located at 860 Rolling Rd, Catonsville, MD, in Baltimore County for a report of an armed bank robbery. The suspect was described as a black male, between 20-30 years old, approximately 5’6″-5’8″, with a medium build. He was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, black sunglasses, a knit cap, and jeans. The black male approached the teller counter and passed her a note. The note stated that he had a gun and to give him all of the $100’s, $50’s, and $20’s. The note also said if she gave him any dye packs he would shoot her. He fled on foot after taking $920 in U.S. Currency, from the care, custody and control of this bank, which was at time insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
“On April 2, 2014, at about 10:45 a.m., BCPD responded to a Wells Fargo Bank located at 582 Frederick Road, Catonsville, Maryland for the report of another armed bank robbery. The suspect was described as a black male, 20-25 years old, 5’4″ in height, approximately 140 lbs.
“He was wearing a light grey hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and a white hat, matching the description of the prior bank robbery. The suspect placed a demand note against the teller glass and the note stated he had a gun and he wanted $4,000 USO or he would start shooting up the place. Subsequently, the suspect displayed a second note which stated that he did not want a dye pack or he would shoot. He fled on foot after taking $2,430 in U.S Currency.
“On April 7, 2014, at about I 0: 15 a.m., BCPD responded to a Wells Fargo Bank located at 8522 Liberty Road, Randallstown, Maryland for the report of another armed bank robbery. The suspect was wearing a grey mask, brown jacket, blue jeans and white knit, again matching the description of the suspect in the above listed bank robberies. The robber approached the teller counter and told the bank employees to get down and give him all the 50’s and IOO’s. He fled on foot after taking $1939.79 in U.S. Currency.
“On April 8, 2014, at approximately 11:55 a.m., BCPD responded to a SunTrust Bank located at 111 Orville Road, Essex, Maryland for the report of an armed bank robbery. The suspect was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and a tan knit cap. The suspect walked into the bank and approached the victim’s teller window. The suspect handed the teller a note that demanded her to give him the money in her register. The suspect fled on an orange bicycle taking $3,761 i n U.S Currency.
“On April IO, 2014, the writer was contacted by the Anne Arundel Police Department (AAPD) in reference to a bank robbery of Bay Bank that occurred on April 4, 2014. The suspect in this bank robbery had left a demand note at the scene of the crime. The AAPD collected the note and sent it to their latent fingerprint unit for examination. AAPD was able to validate its results and confirmed that the fingerprint on the demand note was from Tony BUNCH. A photograph was obtained for BUNCH and compared to photos taken from the above captioned bank surveillance footage. After comparison of the images, it was confirmed the surveillance photos matched the image obtained of BUNCH.”
The FBI released this list of bank robberies believed to have committed by Bunch.
- SunTrust at 111 Orville Road, Essex, Maryland, on April 8
- Wells Fargo at 8522 Liberty Road, Randallstown, Maryland, on April 7
- Bay Bank at 2637 Annapolis Road, Hanover, Maryland, on April 4
- Wells Fargo at 8210 Gateway Overlook Drive, Elkridge, Maryland, on April 4
- Wells Fargo at 582 Fredrick Road, Catonsville, Maryland, on April 3
- Wells Fargo at 1726 East Northern Parkway, Baltimore, Maryland, on March 28
- Wells Fargo at 6309 York Road, in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 25
- Wells Fargo at 860 North Rolling Road in Catonsville, Maryland, on March 24
