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A 44-year-old Dartmouth man who robbed a New Bedford BankFive branch last March was sentenced to serve four to five-and-a-half years in state prison last week, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
Mark DeMelo pleaded guilty in Fall River Superior Court to a single-count indictment charging him with unarmed robbery.
On March 19, 2018, the defendant robbed the BankFive at 160 County St. at around 1:30pm. When police arrived on scene, the teller described the suspect as a short white male in his 40s, who was wearing black gloves, a multi-colored stripe shirt with khakis. The teller told police the suspect stated, “I am here to rob the place, no-by pass. Give me the money and make it fast.” After stealing the cash, the suspect fled the scene.
New Bedford Police Detectives viewed surveillance and area cameras, which showed show the defendant in the area and getting into a silver car with front bumper damage. Police searched for an older Silver Acura with consistent damage to the front bumper and found it four days after the robbery. The teller and other witnesses eventually identified the owner of the vehicle from a photo array.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney William Flynn and the state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Raffi Yessayan.
The defendant had a 13-page criminal record t the time of his arrest, which included convictions for serious assaults, larcenies and breaking and entering.
“This defendant has a history of committing serious crimes and needed to be locked up to protect the public,” District Attorney Quinn said.
