A month after the Trustco Bank in Slingerlands was robbed, Bethlehem Police on Tuesday, Feb. 6, charged a Hannacroix man with the crime.

Ryan J. O’Connor, 30, has been charged with third-degree robbery, a felony, and with petit larceny, a misdemeanor.

Bethlehem Police said, in a release from the department, that they were aware since the Jan. 6 Trustco Bank robbery of other similar robberies in the Capital Region. After an arrest by the City of Kingston Police on Jan. 18, Bethlehem and Kingston police compared similar robberies in Albany and Rotterdam, and executed search warrants to gain further evidence.

In a release issued the day of the 12:45 p.m. robbery at the Trustco Bank at 1569 New Scotland Road in Slingerlands, Bethlehem Police said that a white male wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses entered the bank and displayed a note demanding money. He then fled the bank on foot with an undetermined amount of United States currency. No weapon was displayed, and no one was injured during the incident.

O’Connor was arraigned in Bethlehem Town Court by Judge Ryan Donovan and remanded to jail without bail. He is scheduled to return to Bethlehem Town Court on March 6.  O’Connor is currently incarcerated at the Ulster County jail as a result of his arrest by Kingston Police.  

The ongoing investigation is being conducted by Bethlehem Police as well as Albany Police, Rotterdam Police, and Kingston Police.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer