'Incognito Bandit,' Suspected in 16 MA Bank Robberies, Arrested

A Boston man known as the "Incognito Bandit" was arrested Friday in a Virginia airport as he attempted to board a South Africa-bound flight, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Albert Taderera, 36, of Brighton, is thought to be involved in 16 bank robberies in Massachusetts since February 2015. He has been charged with armed bank robbery by criminal complaint stemming from the Oct. 7, 2016 robbery of a Wayland TD Bank.

Taderera is scheduled to appear in the U.S. District Court for the District of Eastern Virginia on Monday.

According to court documents, 16 banks were robbed in the MetroWest and Greater Boston areas between February 2015 and March 2017, including banks in Woburn, Waltham, Arlington, Acton, Wayland, Stoughton, and Billerica.

• Subscribe to your local Patch for news alerts and newsletters

The robber in most cases was covered in a dark hooded sweatshirt, a dark face mask/sunglasses, dark gloves, and dark clothing. In each instance the robber made verbal demands for the money. The robber in many of the robberies displayed what tellers described as a black semi-automatic handgun.

All of the robberies occurred in suburban setting near wooded areas of foliage. Witnesses in many instances reported the robber leaving the bank and entering those wooded areas. Some witnesses observed the who is thought to be the robber drive away in a black BMW sedan.

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 Police determined the BMW's registration was revoked and had it towed and inventoried.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.

On Thursday night, at about 10:15 p.m., the FBI learned Taderera booked a Friday morning flight from Dulles International Airport to Addis Ababe, Ethiopia. It was learned that Taderera was en route Friday morning to Dulles out of Logan Airport, having changed his flight for Friday evening to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Taderera was arrested before boarding the flight.

The FBI last year doubled the reward relating to the 'Bandit's' capture to $20,000. In February 2016, FBI Boston head Harold H. Shaw said the organization was concerned about his "increasingly brazen and violent behavior."

Photo courtesy of U.S. Attorney's Office