Update: Burly Bandit captured?

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Is the search over for the serial bank robber dubbed “the burly bandit?”

Authorities said a man under arrest in Maine may be linked to a string of New England heists committed by a portly felon who weighs approximately 300lbs.

“We do have an individual in custody,” FBI Special Agent Gail A. Marcinkiewicz said in a message to CNN. “He was arrested for a bank robbery in Maine. We are looking into whether he is connected to those other bank robberies.

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“We have not said he is the burly bandit but are looking into whether he is connected.”
The man arrested in Maine has been identified as Robert Ferguson.

Since April, the burly bandit has been responsible for at least 10 armed hold-ups in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.

FBI Special Agent Gail A. Marcinkiewicz explained to CNN why the heavy-set perpetrator was labeled the burly bandit. “When we have serial bank robbers, we kind of give them nicknames so that we can remember,” she said. “I think burly means stocky and he’s a rather stocky man.”

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He’s also dangerous. “He has brandished a gun, he has threatened to kill people,” Marcinkiewicz said. “Anyone who walks into a bank, threatens tellers and threatens to kill them, that can be very traumatic to people. We just want to get him off the street.”

In each instance, the suspect wears a disguise or attempts to conceal his face. “He has used sunglasses, a wig, and a variety of hats,” the FBI said in a statement. “After receiving cash, he flees the bank on foot in an unknown direction.”

The burly bandit is believed to have robbed the Ocean Bank in Merrimack, New Hampshire on July 2.

A $25,000 reward is being offered to anyone with information leading to his arrest and conviction, authorities said.

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