Medford Man Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Prison in Knifepoint Robbery of Tabernacle, New Jersey Bank
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 14, 2011 |
CAMDEN, NJ—David Carpenter was sentenced today to 63 months in prison for the knifepoint robbery of a Beneficial Savings Bank in Tabernacle, N.J., U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Carpenter, 20, of Medford, N.J., previously pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with one count of armed bank robbery. He was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On December 2, 2010, Carpenter entered the Beneficial Savings Bank in Tabernacle wearing a black sweatshirt and ski mask and brandishing a steak knife. Once inside the bank, Carpenter vaulted the teller counter, placed the knife blade to the throat of a bank teller, and demanded money. Another bank teller handed a white plastic bag of currency to Carpenter, who then fled the bank.
Once outside, Carpenter approached a Honda Civic parked in front of the bank. Unable to start the car, Carpenter attempted to re-enter the bank, but bank employees had locked the doors behind him. Law enforcement officers later determined Carpenter had dropped the keys to the car inside the bank as he vaulted the counter.
Carpenter then fled into a wooded area near the bank. A short time later, an area resident called 911 to report that a male was knocking on her back door asking the resident if he could use the phone, claiming he was looking for his lost dog. Troopers from the N.J. State Police responded and arrested Carpenter.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Simandle sentenced Carpenter to five years’ supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $10,299.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, and the N.J. State Police, under the direction of Col. Rick Fuentes, Superintendent, with the investigation that resulted in today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Smith of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.
Defense counsel: William H. Buckman Esq., Moorestown, N.J.