East Main Street bank robbed

(Updated: 8:30 p.m.) Riverhead Police tonight have released a surveillance video image of the man they say robbed the Capital One Bank on East Main Street this afternoon. Described as a “tall black male with a large build,” the suspect entered the bank, handed a teller a note demanding money and fled on foot, police said in a press release. He was last seen heading east on East Main Street.

Police ask that anyone with information call the Riverhead Police Department at 631-727-4500 or Suffolk County Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS.

Original story:

Riverhead Police are searching for a man who robbed the Capital One Bank at 140 East Main Street this afternoon.

The man was described by bank employees as a dark-skinned black male, approximately 6 ft. 2 in. tall, wearing a yellow-colored hooded pullover sweatshirt, a dark colored baseball cap and sunglasses, according  to radio reports. He handed a teller a note and then fled the scene on foot carrying an unknown amount of cash in a small shopping bag he’d brought with him. It was not immediately known if the robber displayed a weapon.

The robbery took place at about 2:40 p.m. and Riverhead Police officers swarmed the downtown area in short order. The investigation and search are ongoing.

This is the second time this year the East Main Street bank branch was robbed.  A man held up the bank on the afternoon of March 14 and fled on foot.  Publication of a surveillance video image led to the quick arrest of  Robert J. Santoro,  46, undomiciled, who was arrested at the Budget Host Inn in Riverside that night. He was charged with robbery in the fist degree.

Santoro later pleaded guilty to robbery in the third degree and was sentenced to 1 to 5 years in prison. He was paroled on Nov. 14, according to state corrections department records.