Stephen A. Davidow, Bank Robbery, Massachusetts 2017

BOSTON – A string of brazen bank robberies in the Greater Boston area has finally been linked to a Rhode Island man.

Stephen A. Davidow, 55, of Pawtucket, R.I., was charged in federal court in Boston yesterday with four counts of bank robbery, including three additional counts of bank robbery not previously known.

According to court documents, between Dec. 6 and Dec. 11, 2017, an individual, later identified as Davidow, robbed four banks in the Greater Boston area. The robberies occurred at various locations, including in Cambridge, Boston, and Brookline.

Law enforcement officials were able to tie the robberies together using a combination of physical evidence, bank surveillance footage, and eyewitness accounts.

On Dec. 15, 2017, a tip was received by law enforcement that the suspect was Davidow, following a distribution of images on local news. Photos of Davidow were shown to one of the tellers who positively identified him as the man who robbed the bank.

Davidow was on supervised release following a 2007 conviction for bank robbery in Rhode Island at the time of the robberies. He was arrested on Dec. 18, 2017, on a Rhode Island federal warrant prior to being transported to Massachusetts in January 2018.

Each count of bank robbery provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office; John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; Boston Police Commissioner William Evans; and Boston University Police Chief Kelly A. Nee made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case. The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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