Artist’s sketch of suspect.
UPDATED, April 13: A 36-year-old Brighton man originally from Zimbabwe faces charges in a Wayland robbery, but he may be the “Incognito Bandit,” involved in 16 bank heists, including one in Arlington.
Albert Taderera nabbed by authorities last month as he tried to flee the country, may be the man who robbed the Winchester Savings Bank, near the Medford line, about 1 p.m. Oct. 16, 2015. In many cases, he dressed head to toe in black.
Taderera was ordered held without bail at a hearing in federal court in Boston on Friday, April 7. Christina Sterling, representing the Boston U.S. Attorney’s Office, said April 13 that Taderera was ordered detained at a probable-cause hearing the day before. She declined to say where. Supporting the ruling, she said, are that the suspect is considered dangerous and that he is considered art risk of fleeing. She said no further hearing has been scheduled.
In a page-one report April 9, The Globe described the suspect, in conducting a spree allegedly dating from early 2015, as a man who donned disguises with care but neglected others details: failure to rebnew his license. On March 16, Concord Police observed a black BMW sedan outside a local bank and noted Taderera fit the description of the person responsible for the 16 robberies. Police determined the BMW’s registration was revoked and had it towed and inventoried.
On Wednesday, March 22, Taderera called the tow company and was informed his BMW was in police custody.
The next night, about 10:15, the FBI learned that Taderera booked a Friday morning flight from Dulles International Airport to Ethiopia. He changed his flight for Friday evening to Johannesburg, South Africa. He was arrested before boarding.
For now, Taderera is charged only with the Oct. 7, 2016, robbery of a TD Bank branch in Wayland, when he allegedly display a semiautomatic handgun and made off with about $8,000.
Court documents show he’s a suspect in 15 other robberies. An FBI news release in February, doubling the reward to $20,000, lists these five cases:
Sept. 5, 2015, 12:32 p.m., Citizens Bank, 6 Russell St., Woburn;
Oct. 16, 2015, Winchester Savings Bank, 108 Medford St., Arlington;
Jan. 15, 2016, 5:50 p.m., TD Bank, 305 Second Ave., Waltham;
Jan. 25, 2016, 9:51 a.m., South Shore Savings Bank, 1538 Turnpike St., Stoughton; and
Feb. 2, 2016, 11:28 a.m., Enterprise Bank, 674 Boston Road, Billerica.
In the Arlington case, a partly masked man came into the bank, brandished a handgun and demanded cash. He fled on foot with an unknown amount of money and was spotted in a dense residential neighborhood, removing his mask and a dark-colored sweatshirt.
The story reported that the suspect, a black male in his 20s, is about 5-foot-9 with a medium build. He was last seen wearing dark pants and a light shirt.
The report does not mention a BMW.
The April 9 Globe story reported that the “string of robberies attributed to the Incognito Bandit paused only when Taderera, a citizen of Zimbabwe, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year, according to court filings in his divorce and child custody case. After Taderera was released, the robberies resumed.
Taderera is now a lawful permanent resident, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office told The Globe. A lawyer who once represented him in a 2011 domestic abuse case in Framingham said he had been in the United States on a student visa at that time, The Globe reported.
An ICE spokesman declined to explain to the newspaper why Taderera was detained in early 2016, or how he came to be released a few months later.
Jamiel Allen, a federal public defender representing Taderera, declined to respond to a Globe reporter about the allegations against Taderera.
YourArlington asked Capt. Richard Flynn of Arlington police about which Arlington bank robbery is connected to this case. Flynn said he asked the FBI’s public-information officer in Boston about it and was told:
“Given that the matter is pending before federal court, [Dept. of Justice] guidelines prohibit any of the investigative agencies from commenting on ongoing cases/prosecutions.” He referred media inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Massachusetts.
“However, in the spirit of being helpful, the information the reporter is seeking has already been put out there when we offered a reward back in February of 2016.”
Globe, April 9, 2017: The hunt for the Incognito Bandit
Oct. 16, 2015: Police seek suspect in armed robbery at Winchester Savings Bank
This news summary was published Wednesday, April 12, 2017, and updated April 13, to report hearing result.
