By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, January 12, 1992
The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A07
After a gunman demanded money from a teller at the Lemoine Avenue branch of First Fidelity Bank on Monday and calmly walked out with $935, he was seen driving off in style in a white 1992 Ford Taurus.
Police say the robber was Renard Mercer of Queens and that his getaway car was rented. Mercer was in the lockup at the Queens Borough Central Booking on Friday when Fort Lee detectives caught up with him.
Had he returned the car to Budget Rent-A-Car at La Guardia Airport where he rented it when he was supposed to, Mercer might still be free. As it was, the eyewitness information led detectives first to the rental company, then to the lockup, where Mercer was cooling his heels for failing to return the car, Fort Lee Police Chief John Orso said Saturday.
Mercer, 28, had been arrested in Queens about 5:30 p.m. Thursday by the 115th Precinct Anti-Crime Squad. He is awaiting extradition to Fort Lee to face charges of armed robbery and unlawful possession of a weapon.
Walking unobtrusively past several customers, then showing a handgun to the teller, Mercer demanded money and walked back out just as quietly as he came in, Orso said. The bank’s camera got a clear photograph of Mercer, the chief said.
The bank robbery went unnoticed until the alarm sounded, but by that time, the robber had already left.
Using the information from the eyewitness, whom police declined to identify, the Fort Lee police followed the trail to Mercer, Orso said.
He said that bank robberies are not easy to solve, and praised his officers tenacity in tracking Mercer.
Notes: Bergen page
ID: 17365797 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)
Leave a Reply