Facebook tips lead to arrest in bank heist

Tips that came to the Springfield Police Department via social media were credited with helping police arrest the man they say robbed the Citizens Bank on Wednesday afternoon.


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Facebook tips lead to arrest in bank heist Rutland Herald | February 17, 2017 By SUSAN SMALLHEER STAFF WRITER Suspect Suspect SPRINGFIELD — Tips that came to the Springfield Police Department via social media were credited with helping police arrest the man they say robbed the Citizens Bank on Wednesday afternoon. Police Chief Douglas Johnston said police arrested Darrell Barror, 35, of Springfield, on Thursday afternoon at a home on Route 10 in Chester and charged him with the unarmed robbery. Johnston said tips posted Wednesday night on the department’s Facebook page after police posted photographs of the bank robber from the bank’s surveillance cameras were key in tracking down Barror. “We compared the tip on Facebook to the photos, and citizens’ input helped out. And citizens’ input helped on where he was eventually located on Route 10,” the chief said. He said Barror was at a residence in the Gassetts area of Chester. Barror was arrested in 2015 when he helped hide his sister, Wendy Morris, and her boyfriend, Gary Smith, who was wanted for the murder of Wesley Wing of Springfield. Morris and Smith were arrested by Vermont State Police at a camper trailer in a remote area of South Londonderry. Barror was later charged as an accessory after the fact. Smith is still in prison awaiting a murder trial, and Morris pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and served a nine-month sentence for her role in hiding Smith after Wing was shot in Springfield. Johnston said as far as he knew the accessory charges were still pending against Barror, and he said Springfield police detectives were just beginning to talk to him. Police said he will be arraigned today in White River Junction criminal court on charges of grand larceny and larceny from a person. Barror allegedly made off with an undisclosed amount of cash from the bank Wednesday. The police chief said the state’s laws dealing with bank robberies needed a drastic overhaul. He said the FBI and federal authorities formerly handled all bank robberies, but that was no longer the case. He said Vermont criminal law was inadequate to address the problem. Springfield has had about a half-dozen bank robberies in the past two years, he said. Police arrested and charged a Springfield man in the two most recent prior bank holdups — at the Mascoma Savings Bank and the Windsor South Credit Union. “Like drug dealers, there is always someone else to fill the void,” the chief said. No one was hurt in Wednesday’s robbery, Johnston said, “But they were probably scared to death.” 2017-02-17 / Front Page Police arrest suspect in bank robbery SPRINGFIELD — Police have apprehended the man who allegedly made off with cash from an armed robbery at the Citizens Bank in Springfield Wednesday night. Springfield police arrested 35-year-old David Barror Thursday for his alleged involvement in the armed robbery at the Citizens Bank. Police responded to the robbery Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 4:40 p.m. “A lone male subject entered the bank and left on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash,” according to police. A still image taken from surveillance footage was distributed online by Springfield police. The image depicted a white man with a full beard, moustache and a knit cap covering a baseball cap, and wearing a dark coat and sunglasses. Police sought a warrant for Barror’s arrest Thursday morning on charges of grand larceny and larceny. “Information obtained from the release of surveillance footage has indicated that the alleged offender is” Barror, according to police. Barror was apprehended sometime later in the day Thursday and was lodged at Southern State Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 bail. “The Springfield Police Department extends a gracious thank you to all those who came forward to assist with identifying the suspect’s photo from surveillance footage,” the police department wrote in a post online.