Footsteps In Snow Lead To Tattoo Parlor, Arrest, Conviction, Disbarment

An attorney convicted of robbing a financial institution was disbarred by the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department.

The Wayne Independent reported on the investigation of the Citizens Bank robbery

Witnesses outside the bank said upon exiting the bank the suspect ran southbound on Willow Ave., crossed the road and ran onto Old Willow Ave. Surveillance video was viewed at Rent-E-Quip, a business located at 416 Old Willow Ave. Footage shows the suspect running southbound on Old Willow Ave at approximately 1:52 pm. Responding Pennsylvania State Police officers assisted with the investigation and a PSP officer located a single set of shoeprints off the left side of the roadway near 461 Old Willow Ave., approximately 200 yards south of Rent-E-Quip. Said shoeprints were in the snow and they led upward into a wooded area. Said prints were followed through the wooded area. The prints led to a side door of a business on Grandview Ave. that being a tattoo parlor at 164 Grandview Ave. The shoeprints were later photographed and measured and appear consistent with a 9-1/2 size.

Pennsylvania State Police officers entered the tattoo parlor business, which was open at the time, and made contact with a Steven R. FRENCH. A photo of him was taken and the investigation continued. Shortly thereafter FRENCH went to Cordaro’s Restaurant 186 Grandview Avenue and then obtained a Maple City Taxi Cab and was taken to Dover, New Jersey. FRENCH paid $160.00 cash for the cab fare and a $20.00 tip.

The attorney was picked out of a photo array. A witness at the tattoo parlor said he had arrived there “sweaty and breathless.” (Mike Frisch)