Social media helps catch accused serial bank robber from Martin County
Law enforcement officials along Florida’s east coast are crediting Facebook and its users with helping them solve the case of a serial bank robber.
Anthony Carpino, 45, a former Martin County Sheriff’s Office employee, is accused of flashing his face on surveillance video as he robbed banks in Palm City, Palm Bay and Daytona Beach this month.
A tip on Facebook led officials from the FBI, Martin County and Volusia County sheriff’s offices and Daytona Beach Police Department to an Econo Lodge in Ormond Beach near Interstate 95, where they found Carpino, said Martin County sheriff’s Detective Lt. Michael Dougherty. Carpino was arrested about 8:15 a.m. Tuesday on a Volusia County warrant for a robbery charge.
“We surrounded the hotel and waited until we saw him walk out (Tuesday) morning,” Dougherty said. “He went into a Burger King bathroom next door. We surrounded it and took him down in the bathroom.”
Carpino, originally from Martin County, had been living in the Daytona Beach area since he was released from prison in December, Dougherty said. Carpino had been convicted of grand theft of a motor vehicle, according to state records.
His criminal history also includes past charges of bank robbery, carjacking, fraud and resisting law enforcement with violence, Dougherty said.
Carpino was arrested in March after he was accused of robbing the Wells Fargo bank at 441 Seabreeze Blvd. in Daytona Beach, according to a Daytona Beach police report. He was released Oct. 3 from the Volusia County Branch Jail on bail.
Carpino now is accused of robbing the Wells Fargo bank at 2801 S.W. High Meadow Ave. in Palm City at 5:05 p.m. Monday, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Christine Christofek. He took an undisclosed amount of money from the bank.
On Facebook Monday evening, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office posted Carpino’s photograph taken from bank surveillance video and got a tip about his whereabouts, Christofek said.
Sheriff’s detectives then notified the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and Daytona Beach Police Department, Dougherty said.
Since last week, officials in Daytona Beach and Palm Bay have been looking for Carpino.
He’s accused of robbing the TD Bank at 1159 N.E. Malabar Road in Palm Bay about 9 a.m. Oct. 14, according to a Palm Bay police report.
No further information about the Palm Bay robbery was available, but Palm Bay police officials had released photographs taken from surveillance video and said Carpino had an alias of Giovanni Salletti.
He’s also accused of robbing the Wells Fargo Bank at 1300 Beville Road in Daytona Beach about 11:30 a.m. Oct. 11, according to a Daytona Beach police report.
Carpino wrote a note on a deposit slip, but he didn’t give it to the teller, according to the report. Instead, he told the teller to “put the money on the counter, I’m not joking.”
The teller began to put cash on the counter, according to the report, and he told her “that is enough, just give it to me” before he left.
Carpino was seen on surveillance video getting into the passenger side of a car at Melissa’s Car Wash on Beville Road near the bank, according to the report.
The car’s driver said he drove Carpino to the area because Carpino said he was going to buy “dope,” according to the report. They left quickly because Carpino said the “dope man” was coming after him.
Officials from Martin County, Daytona Beach and Palm Bay didn’t release how much money was taken during the bank robberies.
Robber in TD Bank in Palm Bay identified, at large
Caprino, a U.S. Navy veteran, had a short employment history with the Martin County Sheriff's Office in the late 1990s, according to sheriff's personnel records.
He was hired Aug. 1, 1997, as a full-time drill instructor with the former sheriff’s Juvenile Offender Training Center boot camp, according to records. Less than two weeks later, his employment status changed because he failed to meet a mandatory retraining requirement. His position changed from drill instructor to drill instructor aide, and his monthly salary decreased from $1,826.42 to $1,602.67.
On Jan. 13, 1998, Carpino resigned because he didn’t meet the conditions and standards of the position, according to records. After searching his fingerprints, officials found he didn’t disclose previous arrest information, and he was advised to be more truthful on the next applications he fills out.