Bank robbery suspect arrested

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jim McGuire

The Broadalbin man who is accused of robbing the Citizens Bank a stone’s throw from his home Wednesday morning was arrested Friday in the city of Amsterdam, state police said.

Francis T. DiCarlo III, 24, who was identified as a “person of interest” immediately after the robbery, was scheduled for arraignment Friday evening in Broadalbin Village Court on a charge of first-degree robbery.

Fulton County District Attorney Louise K. Sira said state police developed information that DiCarlo was staying at an apartment in Amsterdam and arrested him there.

She commended state police and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation at Fonda for conducting what she called “a swift and thorough investigation.”

Sira said investigators determined DiCarlo had stayed in a number of locations in the Capital Region since the robbery.

She said DiCarlo’s girlfriend, Wendy Swezey of Amsterdam, will be charged with felony hindering prosecution for allegedly assisting DiCarlo. The woman is accused of giving DiCarlo a ride after he ditched his mother’s car at the Stewart’s on Route 5 in Glenville sometime after the robbery.

The car, an older model Oldsmobile, was found at the store around 4 p.m. Wednesday, said Senior Investigator Karl Meybaum.

Sira said she would recommend bail be set for DiCarlo at $100,000. If convicted of first-degree robbery, she said, he could be sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 25 years.

Bail for Swezey was recommended at $5,000, Sira said.

After showing a teller a note around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, the suspect was last observed on foot heading north from the bank toward the North Main Street apartment that DiCarlo shares with his mother, about 100 yards away.

Officials said the teller gave the robber between $1,000 and $2,000. Sira said very little money was recovered Friday.

Officials said DiCarlo had an account at the bank.

Meybaum declined Friday to reveal whether the note passed to the teller specifically mentioned a gun. On Wednesday, police said the note threatened use of a weapon, though none was displayed.

Sira said the charge of first-degree robbery is based upon the threatened use of a weapon.