On August 18, 2020 officers responded numerous times to the Santander Bank located at 532 Pompton Avenue for suspicious activity. The first incident occurred in the early morning hours when an officer observed a suspicious BMW with New York license plates leaving the bank parking lot. This vehicle was later involved in a theft from a bank branch located in Bloomfield. A second incident was reported at 9:14 a.m. when the branch manager reported four males acting suspicious around the ATM when he opened the bank. The subjects left prior to police arrival leaving behind a prepaid debit card. Officers responded back to the bank at 1:34 p.m., on a report of suspicious activity around the ATM. The manager reported that a subject had just left the ATM and entered a vehicle. He provided a description of the vehicle which was located and stopped. A subsequent investigation led to the arrest of three males from New York. They were found to be in possession of multiple credit cards, a large quantity of cash and more than 5 ounces of marijuana. They were all processed and released with a summons to appear in Superior Court. The incident appears to be connected to a wide spread ATM scam that has occurred at numerous Santander Bank branches in the tri-state area. The FBI is involved in the investigation.
