Second man charged in Rotterdam bank robbery

A second man has been arrested in connection with last month’s bank robbery that involved a fake school threat, police said Friday.

Jeremy M. Pullen, 27, of 357 Morris St., Albany, faces robbery and grand larceny counts, felonies.

Pullen is accused of helping Zachary J. Dennis plan and execute the robbery, Rotterdam police Lt. Michael Brown said.

Brown declined to specify Pullen’s exact role, but he said Pullen remained nearby when Dennis walked into the West Campbell Road Trustco Bank on Jan. 6 and robbed it.

Just before the heist, Dennis is accused of calling in a fake threat to Mohonasen High School in an attempt to divert police away from the robbery.

Pullen is only charged related to the heist, not the fake threat.

Police believe the two worked together to plan the robbery for a few weeks prior. Dennis had been thinking about it for some time before, Brown said.

Pullen had been a suspected accomplice for some time, Brown said. Police built the case, then issued an arrest warrant. Columbia County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Pullen Friday.

According to Gazette news gathering partner CBS6 Albany, Pullen previously worked as a corrections officer for the state. He resigned in June 2015.

Pullen appeared in Rotterdam Town Court Friday and was ordered held on $100,000 bail.

Brown has said that Dennis used an unregistered TracFone to make the threat call. Police used information gleaned from that call to help zero in on Dennis.

Brown also cited information from public tips.

Dennis is accused of calling 911 on Jan. 6 to report a bogus school threat.

He allegedly told dispatchers of being in the school parking lot and overhearing two males talking about shooting people.

Police immediately responded to the school and placed it on lockdown. A sergeant, however, heard the call and became suspicious. He held a couple officers back to cover the other side of town.

About five minutes later, Dennis walked into the Trustco Bank, 141 West Campbell Road, and handed the teller a note demanding cash and threatening to use a gun if the teller did not comply, police said.

Despite the diversion, officers arrived at the bank within three minutes.