UNION, NJ — A months-long investigation looking for a serial bank robber led police to the bathroom of an Elizabeth motel last week, when they arrested suspect James Glenn in the late hours of Thursday, Oct. 27.
A tipster told members of the Union Police Department that Glenn, 59, was staying at The Airport Hotel in Elizabeth, police said. In the week prior to the arrest, the FBI released a photograph of Glenn as part of a statewide search.
No one answered the door at The Airport Hotel, but when members of the Union Police Department entered the room, Glenn surrendered and was arrested without incident, according to police officials. He was then charged with carrying out three bank robberies at two Union banks, which are within eyesight of each other: Connect One Bank and Santander Bank, located on Chestnut Street in Union’s Five Points area.
The robberies occurred rapidly over the course of 50 days, becoming high profile incidents in Union. After the third and last bank robbery, on Friday, Oct. 16, detectives with the Union Police Department believed the same person was responsible, police said.
No one was hurt, and no weapon was displayed in any of the robberies, in which police say a black male demanded money from a teller. A combined $11,000 was stolen as a result of the first two incidents, according to the police.
Authorities had been searching for Glenn for at least a week. The Union Police Department identified Glenn as wanted in a Facebook post on Thursday, Oct. 20, and Glenn is also a suspect in two other local bank robberies.
The suspect in those incidents, which occurred at the Hudson City Savings Bank in Roseland and a TD Bank in Orange, meets the description of Glenn, authorities said, who was described as a black, five foot tall man with dreadlocks.
When members of the Union Police Department found Glenn at The Airport Hotel, detectives found he was sharing the room with another male, Jeffrey Myers of East Orange, who was arrested for obstruction of the investigation. Myers was interviewed and later released, according to the police, when it was determined Myers was not involved in the bank robberies.
The Union bank robberies are still being investigated by Detectives Ken Gruener and Patrick Bradley. If anyone has any information, contact the Union Police Department Detective Bureau at 908-851-5030. Anyone with information is also urged to call the FBI at 973-792-3000. All calls are kept confidential.