Lenin Gutierrez Held in Johnston Bank Robbery

Lenin Gutierrez, 39, of Cranston, is behind bars on federal charges for the armed robbery of a Citizens Bank inside a Stop & Shop in Johnston, Rhode Island, on December 30, 2016. Gutierrez was ordered held without bail following an initial appearance before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan, accused of brandishing a written death threat demanding stacks of $100 and $50 bills.

Dressed in a beige jacket, black facemask, and a Spiderman hat and scarf, Gutierrez allegedly walked into the bank and passed a handwritten note to the teller: “Robbery $100 and $50 Stacks only No die pack No Alarm. have A gun will use.” The teller handed over $100 and $50 bills. When Gutierrez demanded more, she gave him $20 bills. He fled—without ever showing a weapon.

Minutes after the heist, a supermarket employee flagged Johnston Police, reporting a suspicious man on the far side of a fence bordering the parking lot. Officers swept the area and found the black facemask, Spiderman hat and scarf, and a beige jacket abandoned near a dumpster. Inside the jacket’s pocket: a stack of $20 bills. Inside the lining: the threatening note.

Johnston detectives lifted a fingerprint from the note. It matched Lenin Gutierrez. Surveillance footage from a Cranston Walmart showed Gutierrez purchasing the black ski mask and the Spiderman gear the day before the robbery. Every piece of the disguise was accounted for—except the nerve to walk into a crowded supermarket bank and threaten a teller’s life.

Gutierrez now faces federal prosecution for bank robbery—a charge carrying up to 20 years in prison, $250,000 in fines, and up to 3 years of supervised release. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ly T. Chin, with support from the FBI’s Boston Division and Johnston Police Chief Richard S. Tamburini.

A criminal complaint is not a conviction. Gutierrez is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. But the evidence—his fingerprint, his purchases, and the discarded costume—paints a damning picture. The Spiderman disguise may have been a joke. The robbery wasn’t.