Police Stop Robber Red-Handed on T

A 34-year-old man who was caught and arrested on Friday morning after robbing Citizen’s Bank in Harvard Square is currently in custody at the Cambridge Police Station and will be arraigned this morning, according to Jack Albert, deputy superintendent for the Cambridge Police Department.

Robert J. Carney of Everett, Mass. entered the bank on JFK Street at 11:36 a.m. and handed the teller a note demanding money, according to a Cambridge Police Department press release.

Unbeknownst to him, Carney was given a dye pack along with the cash as he fled the bank.

After Carney entered the Harvard Square T station, the dye pack exploded, releasing fumes and red ink onto Carney’s hands. Carney dropped the money and allegedly proceeded to catch the next inbound train, the press release stated.

The Cambridge Police arrived shortly after the incident and secured all the exits from the station after they detected the odor of the dye pack explosion and saw the evidence left at the bottom of the escalator.

Witnesses confirmed that the suspect had large amounts of red dye on his hands.

Members of the FBI Bank Robbery Task Force are currently assisting with further evidence collection, according to the press release.

Though it is part of standard procedure to give dye packs along with cash during bank robberies, Albert said that this particular incident ended relatively well.

Note-passing—which, Alberts said, is one of the most common bank robbery methods in the United States—was also used in the robbery of the Harvard University Employees Credit Union last December.

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.