Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- The accused bank robber, not the bank, ended up in the red, according to the police.

Authorities arrested a suspect in connection with an armed robbery at Rockland Trust bank on Linden Street yesterday after witnesses said they saw a red smoke cloud trailing a man running south on Seabury Street. The police said the alleged robber had been given a dye pack with the money.

Among charges filed by the police against Joseph Smith, 55, of 21 Jean St., are armed and masked robbery, possession of a large capacity firearm, conspiracy, and resisting arrest, according to a police news release today.

The statement says detectives from Fall River, New Bedford and Dartmouth, as well as the FBI and Massachusetts State Police, went to 229 Palmer St. in New Bedford, which police said is the third-floor apartment of Smith's sister and her live-in boyfriend. A police team removed tenants from their homes so that officers could safely use a warrant at the location, according to the police.

Two Fall River detectives said they saw a man exit the third floor onto a porch. He climbed down the rail to the second-floor porch, then leaped to the ground where he was taken into custody, they said.

A third-floor search turned up "a large amount of U.S. currency," including money that "had a red dye color," the police said. Some cash was in a bucket soaked with solution and, in a separate area, a small portable heater was being used to dry money.

The police said they also found Smith's sister, Sandra Smith, 43, and her live-in boyfriend, Russell Laroche, 40, of 72 Burnside Drive, Swansea, at the third-floor apartment. The police charged both with accessory after the fact, conspiracy, and receiving stolen property of more than $250, the statement says.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

 Tags  Fall River Massachusetts New Bedford

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