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Capital One bank robber pleads guilty

Surveillance footage released by police of
Surveillance footage released of the robbery suspect prior to Robert Santoro’s arrest. (Credit: Riverhead Town police)

Just over two months after pleading not guilty to robbing the Capital One bank in downtown Riverhead, Robert Santoro changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday to charges of third-degree robbery and petty larceny.

Mr. Santoro robbed the East Main Street bank on March 26, handing the teller a note “indicating that he had a gun,” assistant district attorney James O’Rourke said at the 46-year-old’s arraignment.

The note demanded “100s, 50s, 20s, and 10s” and said he had a gun, but that he didn’t want to use it because he didn’t want to hurt anyone, according to court documents.

Mr. Santoro fled the scene on foot after the robbery, police said at the time, and was later caught at the Budget Host Inn in Riverside with cash in his car. After his arraignment, he was held on $300,000 cash bail.

He is due to be sentenced on June 27.

The top charge for third-degree robbery is 1 to 15 years, according to state penal code regulations.

Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that Mr. Santoro had pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery.