TD Bank robbery could be connected to 10 other recent cases

A recent robbery at the TD Bank near campus could be connected to a suspect with over 10 other robberies under his belt.

On April 9, Penn Police and the Philadelphia Police Department responded to a robbery alarm at the TD Bank located at 3735 Walnut St. According to the police report, the unidentified male suspect handed a demand note to the teller. After receiving money from the teller, he fled the scene. He did not have any weapons on him and did not cause any injuries, according to the Division of Public Safety.

The teller gave Mitchell $913 along with a dye pack. A dye pack is a radio-operated device that banks often put within a stack of hollowed-out bills that permanently stains the bills when it is activated upon leaving the bank. When the dye pack exploded, Mitchell allegedly discarded the stack.

On Thursday, Philadelphia Police arrested 41-year-old Rashon Mitchell for a string of robberies of a similar nature in the Philadelphia area. Mitchell confessed to having robbed four banks. Court documents did not include the names of all the banks. It is currently unverified whether Mitchell was responsible for the TD Bank robbery.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting Mitchell for a robbery that occurred on Feb. 28, 2015 at the Republic Bank branch located at 1601 Market Street. According to a pre-trial motion filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office, Mitchell entered the bank at 1:30 p.m. and handed the teller a note which read “Just give me 3 grand and no one gets hurt.”

On March 2, the Philadelphia FBI distributed a press release with information about the robbery and surveillance photographs from the bank. On March 30, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Steve McQueen contacted the Philadelphia FBI with information from a confidential informant who said he recognized the bank robber as “Rashon” or “Rasheed” who worked at “Lorenzo’s Deli” in Philadelphia.

The next day, FBI Special Agent John Sermons ran a report for all bank robbers released from prison since 2012. Sermons identified a Rashon Mitchell who had been released from prison in 2013 after being convicted for seven bank robberies.

Sermons consulted with Mitchell’s parole officer and his employer. The employer confirmed that Mitchell did not show up to work on the day of the robbery and had shaved his beard by the time he came to work the next day. Mitchell was arrested on April 16 after the Philadelphia Police and Philadelphia FBI received a tip.

On April 17, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a pre-trial detention motion arguing that Mitchell is a flight risk and should therefore not be released on bail. If convicted, Mitchell could face about six to eight years in jail based on federal sentencing guidelines, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office motion.

The Philadelphia Police and Philadelphia FBI were unable to be immediately reached for comment before the time of publication.

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