Crime & Safety
Eatontown Bank Robbed; Monmouth County Man Charged
The Wells Fargo branch on Rt. 36 in Eatontown was robbed Friday. A man from Colts Neck has been arrested and charged.
EATONTOWN, NJ — A Colts Neck man was charged Monday with three bank robberies in Keyport, Lincroft and Eatontown, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.
All three banks were robbed in the months of November and December, said the prosecutor. Conor Kavanagh, 29, of Colts Neck, was charged with three counts of first-degree armed robbery.
The first robbery was at the PNC Bank branch inside the Keyport Stop & Shop Nov. 13. A man identified as Kavanagh approached the teller, passed a note indicating he had a weapon and took off with cash in a green Toyota pick-up, said police.
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The second robbery was similar to the first and was committed at the Lincroft Wells Fargo branch on Newman Springs Road in Middletown on Dec. 14. The suspect was dressed in the same fashion and also left in a green Toyota pick-up. Read that story: Bank In Lincroft Robbed Tuesday
Three days later, on Dec. 17 the Wells Fargo branch on Rt. 36 in Eatontown was robbed, with the suspect also passing a note about having a weapon.
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It was the Middletown Police Department that first identified Kavanagh as a potential suspect after the second robbery. He was seen driving a green pick-up that matched the description of the one used in the bank robberies.
He was arrested on unrelated charges. Detectives searched the pick-up truck and found proceeds from the Eatontown bank robbery and the clothing that was seen on surveillance footage, said acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey.
They also found information about a storage unit in Shrewsbury. After searching that location, they found proceeds from the Keyport and Middletown bank robberies.
A phone search of Kavanagh's cell phone also revealed online searches for local bank branches. Members of the FBI assisted in the investigation.
Kavanagh was taken to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution pending his first court date. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison for each first-degree count.
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