Derek Spaide, Armed Bank Robbery, Pennsylvania 2019

SCRANTON - On May 16, 2018, the streets of Luzerne County's Plains Township witnessed a chilling scene when Derek Spaide, a 27-year-old from Hanover Township, Pennsylvania, donned a t-shirt over his face and stormed into the Luzerne National Bank wielding a rifle.

According to the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Spaide, who was 27 at the time, pointed the rifle at bank employees and demanded a substantial sum. On that fateful day, approximately $8,204 was taken from the bank.

Following the brazen heist, Spaide fled the scene in a vehicle driven by his co-defendant, Gerald Pambianco, a 29-year-old from Plains Township. A high-speed chase ensued as the authorities attempted to apprehend the duo.

The getaway vehicle was eventually disabled on Route 309 in Plains Township, and Spaide made a desperate attempt to escape by trying to enter the vehicle of a bystander stopped in traffic. However, he was swiftly apprehended by the police.

On July 15, 2019, Spaide, now 28, appeared before United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion to face the music. After previously pleading guilty to armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, Spaide was sentenced to a total of 14 years' imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Plains Township Police Department, and the Hanover Township Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. O'Hara prosecuted the case.

This matter was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program aimed at reducing violent crime and making neighborhoods safer. The program, reinvigorated by the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2017, focuses on collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the local community to develop effective strategies to combat crime.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/luzerne-county-man-sentenced-14-years-prison-armed-bank-robbery