Man Charged In Wainwright Bank Robbery

Cambridge police officers yesterday arrested a Mashpee, Mass. man and charged him with holding up a Mount Auburn Street bank, according to Det. Frank Pasquarello of the Cambridge Police Department.

Payson K. Dartlett, 29, allegedly entered the Wainwright Bank at about 10:15 a.m. and passed the teller a note demanding cash.

Dartlett then left the bank, located at 104 Mt. Auburn St., with an undetermined amount of money, fleeing the scene in a Checker Cab taxi.

Responding to a call from police headquarters, Cambridge police officer Thomas Granger located the cab and ordered it to stop.

Dartlett peacefully surrendered to the officer on the corner of Memorial Drive and Western Ave., where the taxi came to a halt.

Pasquarello said officers recovered all of the stolen cash from the cab following Dartlett's arrest.

But Pasquarello added that the police are unsure of the exact amount of money that Dartlett allegedly stole.

The manager and employees of the Mount Auburn Street branch of the Wainwright Bank refused to comment on the incident, and the branch administrator did not return repeated phone calls yesterday.

As of 3 p.m. yesterday, the Wainwright Bank was operating as usual.

With the aid of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's bank robbery task force, the Cambridge Police Department is investigating the possibility of Dartlett's involvement in other recent area bank robberies, including one last month in Fresh Pond.

Dartlett is being charged with armed robbery and will be arraigned in Cambridge District Court this morning.