Police: Career criminal came to region to rob bank

Daniel Freeland, the 62-year-old man who authorities say robbed a bank in Colonie Thursday and then led police on a high-speed chase up the Northway and into Saratoga Springs, was only in the Capital Region for a short time.

“He was up here looking to rob a bank,” said Sgt. Mark Girard of the Colonie Police Department. “He’s not from here; he doesn’t live here,” Girard said.

In fact, police believe that the Baltimore resident spent just one night in a motel in the Albany-Schenectady area. They base this on statements the suspect made after his arrest.

Police described Freeland as a career criminal who has spent considerable time in prison on bank robbery convictions in Maryland. “He has previous bank arrests in other states,” Girard said. “He has a long history.”

Freeland is accused of holding up the Capital Bank and Trust branch in the Newton Plaza on Route 9 in Colonie late Thursday afternoon.

Wearing a fake beard and dark glasses, Freeland allegedly pointed a handgun at a female teller and asked for money. Court records indicate that he left the bank with more than $7,000 in a small black bag.

Colonie police have charged him with first-degree robbery, third-degree grand larceny and second-degree possession of a loaded handgun.

State police also charged him with two felonies, menacing a police officer and criminal possession of a weapon, as well as vehicle and traffic charges relating to the chase.

Freeland was arraigned in Colonie Town Court and taken to Albany County Jail with no bail set. He is to appear in town court again early next week.

Witnesses saw a man with a dark beard run through the small strip plaza near the bank in Colonie and enter a maroon Chevy Blazer with Maryland plates on it.

The witnesses reported the plates and vehicle description to police.

State police spotted the suspect’s car going north near Northway Exit 14 in Saratoga Springs shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday and the chase, which included a state police helicopter, started.

The sport utility vehicle left the Northway at Exit 16 in Wilton and went east on Ballard Road.

The SUV had to stop at railroad tracks on Ballard Road while a train passed. At that point, two state troopers approached the suspect’s vehicle. A state police officer, whose name has not been released, fired two shots at the suspect after the man allegedly displayed a handgun in his window, according to Lt. John Agresta of the state police. Police said the suspect, who was not hit by the shots, may have pointed the gun at the troopers.

As soon as the train passed, the SUV drove through the railroad crossing barriers, damaging them.

“The suspect did not fire any rounds,” Agresta said. Scanner traffic Thursday afternoon indicated that the suspect may have fired a shot or two at police, but police said this did not happen.

The shots discharged by the trooper are being investigated in a separate administrative investigation by the State Police Internal Affairs Bureau. The shots — where they hit — were processed by the state police forensics identification unit, Agresta said.

State police said they recovered a .38-caliber handgun, described by Colonie police as a .38 Rossi Interarm revolver, on Ballard Road. This is the handgun police believe Freeland used in the bank holdup, Agresta said.

From Ballard Road, the suspect drove at high speed east to Route 50, turned right and drove through Wilton’s busy retail hub.

With a growing number of police cruisers on his tail, the suspect drove into the city of Saratoga Springs, where his SUV hit another car at Route 50 and East Avenue.

The SUV went airborne and landed on its roof just south of the intersection. The suspect crawled out of the SUV uninjured and was taken into custody by state police and Saratoga Springs city police.

People in the car hit by the SUV were not seriously injured.

The Route 50-East Avenue intersection was closed to traffic around 4:15 p.m. and was not reopened until after 10 p.m. Thursday night.

Several state troopers suffered minor injuries during the arrest. They were treated and released from Saratoga Hospital, according to a state police report.

The incident remains under investigation.