East Meadow bank robbery suspect arrested

Police have found the suspect who allegedly robbed an East Meadow bank on Sunday afternoon.

According to police, Kenneth Nelson Jr., 24, of Massapequa, was arrested on Thursday afternoon without incident and was charged with Robbery 3rd Degree.

After waiting on line at the TD Bank on 2549 Hempstead Turnpike just before 4 p.m. on Sunday, police said Nelson passed a demand note to a teller. According to detectives, the teller handed him an undisclosed amount of money containing a dye pack, which did activate when the subject left the bank.

Six employees and six patrons were in the bank at the time of the robbery, police said, and no injuries were reported.

Police had described the subject as a white male in his 20s, between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10, with blonde hair wearing a blue baseball cap with a white design, black gloves, dark sunglasses, tan jacket, blue jeans and brown work boots.
   
According to a study published online by the FBI and Forensic Science Communications, dye packs are placed in rolls of bills. A red dye discharges as the suspect exits the bank, which stains the cash and the individual.
   
In an e-mail, a spokeswoman for the TD Bank would not go into detail about how the dye packs and security measures at the company's branches.
   
"We maintain and upgrade our security systems regularly, but for security reasons we do not disclose what these systems and upgrades are specifically," she said. The spokeswoman added that the company is cooperating with local officials and would not comment further because of the ongoing investigation.

Nelson's arraignment in First District Court, Hempstead, is scheduled for Friday.

Updated: 3/11/10, 3:00 p.m.