STAFFORD – Two individuals have been arrested for a series of six bank robberies, and attempted bank robberies, in New Jersey and New York.
James M. Buccanfuso, 41, of New York and Sergey Demidenko, 38, of Brooklyn were arrested after an investigation revealed them as the culprits of recent local bank robberies, as well as other robberies in NY, between Jan. 16 and Jan. 26. Their string of robberies included those at Chase Bank on Jan. 18 and Wells Fargo on Jan. 26, both in Stafford.
The investigation led police to find that Demidenko was the individual entering the banks with a dark, hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses, slipping robbery notes to the bank tellers. Fleeing on foot from the banks, with an unknown amount of money, Demidenko was then picked up by Buccanfuso in a 2012 green Jeep Grand Cherokee with a New York license plate, according to police.
Police said that Demidenko and Buccanfuso would split the proceeds, and travel back and forth from New York to Atlantic City.
The investigation began with the Stafford Township Chase Bank robbery on Jan. 18, and investigated the robbery of the Wells Fargo Bank at 273 West White Horse Pike in Galloway on Jan. 24 as well. The Jan. 26 Stafford Township Wells Fargo robbery was just an attempted robbery; Demidenko fled the scene after being asked to remove his hood and glasses by the teller before any money was stolen.
Detective Smith and Detective Sergeant Johnson, the arresting officers in this case, contacted the New York Police Department, who advised that they had similar bank robberies involving a subject matching Demidenko’s description.
According to police officials, The New York City Police Department was investigating three bank robberies; one on Jan. 16 at the Capital One Savings Bank in Park Slope, one on Jan. 25 at Roslyn Savings Bank in Massapequa, and another on Jan. 25 at the Chase Bank at 1722 Avenue U/E 18th Street in Brooklyn.
The detectives were able to identify the Jeep’s license plate in an Atlantic City casino parking garage. This led them to the suspects in Manhattan on Jan. 30, where Demidenko and Buccanfuso were placed in custody and then turned over to the FBI.
Stafford Police noted that they will not be releasing photos of the subjects.
