Three charged in Brookline bank robbery plot

By Colin A. Young

April 5, 2012

2 minutes to read

Three people are facing charges that they plotted to rob two Brookline banks on Wednesday. Police say they apparently got cold feet in both cases when approached by vigilant bank employees.

Brandon Wood, 31, of Pittsfield, William Curtin, 26, of Dedham, and Brenda Santos, 22, who is homeless, face charges of conspiracy to commit bank robbery. Wood and Curtin were arraigned Thursday in Brookline District Court; Santos was sent to Pittsfield to face the charge, the Norfolk district attorney’s office said.

On Wednesday morning, employees at Brookline Bank on Beacon Street called police to report a man who entered the bank wearing a hooded sweatshirt, a hat, and sunglasses. When the manager and assistant manager asked the man to remove his sunglasses, he said he would go put them in his car. He left the bank and met up with a similarly dressed man, according to police.

Video surveillance footage from the bank showed that when the man walked into the bank he “covered his hands with his sleeve of his jacket to prevent the possibility of leaving fingerprints,’’ and that he appeared to “drop his head down when he walked into the bank,’’ according to a police report.

“Based on this activity and the fact that this person never returned to the bank, we formed the opinion that this person was going to rob the bank but changed his mind after he was confronted by the bank manager and assistant manager,’’ the report said.

A description of the suspect was broadcast to all Brookline police officers and other banks were notified of the incident.

Later Wednesday, employees at Blue Hills Bank on Beacon Street reported similar suspicious activity by a man who matched the description of the earlier suspect. An assistant vice president of the bank told police he approached the man, who “mumbled something unintelligible, saying something about an ATM card, turned, and left the bank,’’ according to the police report.

The man then boarded an inbound MBTA train at Beacon and Harvard streets.

An officer got on that train and located a suspect matching the description provided by bank employees. After a review of surveillance video determined that the suspect and another man on the train had been in or around both banks, both were arrested.

Police said the men, Wood and Curtin, had hypodermic syringes on them when they were arrested. Wood also was arrested on outstanding warrants from Somerville — one for possession of a Class A substance and one for larceny under $250.

When he was arrested, Curtin told police that he and Wood were staying at an area hotel and that Wood wanted to “take a walk and get some money,’’ the report said. While the hotel room was under surveillance, police spoke with Santos, who, along with Wood, was already a person of interest in a recent Pittsfield bank robbery.

Police obtained a warrant and searched the room where the suspects had been staying. There, police said, they found evidence believed to be from the Pittsfield robbery.

In addition to the Pittsfield robbery, police said, the suspects are believed to be connected to the robbery of an Eastern Bank branch on Dartmouth Street in Boston on Monday.

Wood was ordered held on $2,500 cash bail, Curtin was ordered held on $1,000 cash bail; Santos was returned to Pittsfield on a warrant, the Norfolk district attorney’s office said. All three are due back in Brookline District Court on April 19.