Manatee County Bank Robber Indicted: DOJ

PARRISH, FL — A bank robber who threatened to blow up a Fifth Third Bank in Parrish last month was indicted Thursday.

With the indictment, Robert Frascella, 55, of Bradenton was formally charged with bank robbery, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

According to the indictment, Frascella must forfeit any property or proceeds traceable to the crime.

The defendant and an accomplice, Thomas Harris, 31, who acted as his getaway driver, robbed the bank on Aug. 8

Both men were taken into custody, and they were found with several pieces of evidence, including some of the stolen money, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said at the time of the robbery.

When Frascella walked into the bank at 11215 U.S. 301 N around 2:40 p.m., he dropped a package on the counter along with a note demanding cash and a threatening statement about “blowing up” the bank, the sheriff’s office said.

After the teller gave him an undisclosed amount of cash, he walked out of the bank a few minutes later. He drove away in an older Ford Fusion that is possibly blue, MCSO said.

The MCSO bomb squad responded to the bank to examine the package left behind and found only glassware inside.