Accused Gladwyne Bank Robber Held On $1M Bail

GLADWYNE, PA – The man accused of robbing a Gladwyne bank at gunpoint Tuesday has been identified as a New Jersey man, and he has been jailed on $1 million bail while facing numerous charges, including several felonies, authorities said.

Lower Merion Police identified the alleged gunpoint robber as Michael Armand Fanelli, 39, of Deptford, New Jersey.

Fanelli has been charged with four counts of felony robbery, felony theft by unlawful taking, felony receiving stolen property, possession of an instrument of crime, and fleeing police, in connection with the Tuesday morning incident, court records show.

Fanelli is being held after failing to post $1 million bail at his Aug. 8 preliminary hearing, according to court documents.

Fanelli was arrested by Lower Merion Police, with assistance from Philadelphia and Pennsylvania State police, Tuesday, Aug. 7 on Interstate 76 east near Martin Luther King Boulevard in Philadelphia after allegedly robbing the PNC bank branch on Youngsford Road in Gladwyne at about 11 a.m., police said.

Police say Fanelli was wearing a disguise during the alleged robbery in which he pulled out a gun and demanded money.

After getting cash he fled the area and was later caught driving a truck on the Schuylkill Expressway a short time later, police said.

He is slated to appear for his preliminary hearing on Aug. 22, court records show.

Fanelli has previously been convicted and sentenced for bank robberies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

He admitted to robbing the Cornerstone Bank in West Deptford on June 2, 2015; Fulton Bank in Mullica Hill three days later; Malvern Federal Savings Bank in Concordville, PA., on July 22, 2015; the same Susquehanna Bank in Mullica Hill on July 28 and Aug. 21, 2015; and National Penn Bank in Florence on Sept. 24, 2015.

Fanelli was sentenced in February 2017 to three years, one month in prison for the robberies.

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