A man from Martha’s Vineyard is accused of zip-tying individuals and placing a "purported bomb" on the counter during an armed bank robbery in April.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that Petar Petyoshin, 40, is charged with one count of armed robbery. He’d previously been arrested on related state charges in May.
Charging documents say Petyoshin entered the Rockland Trust Bank in Falmouth just before 9 a.m. on April 8, 2023. Wearing a blonde wing, Petyoshin placed an alleged bomb on the teller counter and brandished a firearm, the charging documents say.
Petyoshin allegedly brandished the firearm and told a bank employee, "I’m robbing you," before having the customers and bank employees zip-tie each other’s hands together.
Charging documents say Petyoshin forced two bank tellers to hand over $20,000 in cash into a brown Walmart bag. Petyoshin then allegedly took a customer’s car keys and fled the scene in the customer’s vehicle.
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Surveillance footage captured an individual matching Petyoshin’s description parking a gray van in the parking lot of a grocery store. The individual left the van and walked in the direction of the bank on foot before returning to the van about 15 minutes after the robbery. Additional surveillance footage captured the van traveling on a highway toward Mashpee after the robbery.
Charging documents say Petyoshin was identified as the registered owner of the van. Cell site information picked up Petyoshin as being in the area Falmouth at the time of the robbery.
Petyoshin was arrested on May 23, 2023, on state charges in connection with the robbery. Authorities searched his Edgartown home and recovered thousands of dollars in cash bundled together in Rockland Trust money bands, zip ties, and clothing items the robbery suspect had been wearing, according to court documents. Authorities also seized nearly 60 firearms and ammunition.
Petyoshin remains in state custody and will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date. He faces up to 25 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 on the charge of armed bank robbery.
