Taxi driver says he unknowingly acted as getaway car for bank robbery suspect
By Imani Clement and Peter Eliopoulos
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SOMERVILLE, Massachusetts (WCVB) — A taxi cab driver unknowingly acted as a get away driver after a man robbed a bank in Somerville, Massachusetts, officials said Wednesday.
The Somerville Police Department received a call for a robbery at the East Cambridge Savings Bank at 12:45 p.m.
The city said police were able to arrest a suspect in connection to the bank robbery.
Sky5 caught the aftermath of the suspect’s arrest, half a mile away from the bank location. Police cars were seen surrounding a taxicab near Davis Square in Somerville.
Dennis Ferrante, who was driving that taxicab, said it was one of the wildest rides of his life.
“He went into the bank, and that’s where he had the bag. All of it was covered in the back seat, he had all kinds of junk, he just kept saying, ‘My wife is going to kill me,'” Ferrante said.
Ferrante said the man he was driving went inside the bank, and five minutes later, he came back out to the car and told him to drive away.
He drove down Highland Avenue toward Davis Square, unaware that his passenger had allegedly robbed a bank.
Francisco Porges, who works nearby, said he witnessed the passenger’s arrest.
“They go to the passenger and tell him to get out,” Porges said. “They open the door and immediately kind of throw him to the ground and seemingly arrest him.”
Somerville police have confirmed that the scene Porges witnessed was the arrest of the robbery suspect. Ferrante said police recovered the stolen cash.
“They had a bag of money, and they were taking pictures of it,” Ferrante said.
Porges said he is still trying to make sense of it all.
“It was kind of funny, honestly,” Porges said. “Thinking that it was a getaway driver, that he called the cab or the Uber.”
The bank closed for the rest of Wednesday afternoon.
Police have not yet released the suspect’s name, or what charges they could be facing.
The robbery is under investigation.
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