Cape Coral man charged in multiple bank robberies
A Cape Coral man has been charged in connection with the robbery at Synovus Bank Tuesday and linked to three other robberies in the area.
Anthony Larry Masters, 49, of Cape Coral, was arrested early Wednesday morning by a Cape Coral Police Department detective assigned to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and has been charged with three counts of bank robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, which was found when Masters was taken into custody.
Masters also is being charged by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on one count of bank robbery in North Fort Myers. He is currently in the Lee County Jail.
“Our Major Crimes Unit did a fantastic job in this case where they were able to identify and apprehend the suspect very quickly for this bank robbery — being basically within 24 hours,” said CCPD spokesperson Master Sgt. Allan Kolak.
Kolak stated that several witnesses came forward to identify Masters following the release of enhanced still images of the suspect from security cameras.
CCPD believes Masters, in addition to the Synovus Bank robbery, took part in the Bank of the Ozarks robbery on Jan. 8 2018, and the Bank OZK robbery on May 17 of this year. Both banks are at the same location on Hancock Bridge Parkway, having undergone a name change since the first crime in ’18.
Kolak said that Masters would hand each bank teller a note that demanded money and that if they did not comply, would face severe harm. Masters would make sure the note would be taken with him each time.
The amount of money Masters made away with was not disclosed.
Though a firearm was found in his vehicle, CCPD said that he did not brandish his weapon at any point during the three robberies in Cape Coral.
Masters has, “a fairly extensive criminal history,” said Kolak.
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