Dartmouth man arrested for Somerset bank robbery

A Dartmouth man was arrested on Wednesday, July 17 for allegedly robbing a bank in Somerset following a two-week investigation by Somerset police.

Somerset Police detectives arrested Thomas Rodrigues Jr., 31, of Dartmouth at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday night at a home on Old Plainville Road in New Bedford.

The detectives executed a search warrant at the house with the assistance of the FBI, Massachusetts State Police and New Bedford Police before taking Rodrigues to the Somerset police station for booking.

Rodrigues is charged with robbing St. Michael's Federal Credit Union, at 891 County Street in Somerset on July 5.

At around 12:05 p.m. on July 5, a man — later identified as Rodrigues — entered the bank and demanded money from a teller. 

The man was unarmed. He subsequently fled from the bank in a Cadillac sedan with an undisclosed amount of money.

No one was injured in the incident.

Rodrigues was charged with one count of Unarmed Robbery and is expected to be arraigned in Fall River District Court on Thursday, July 18.

He was previously convicted of robbing a Fall River bank in 2011.

Somerset Police Chief George McNeil commented, “This was great work by our detective unit who were able to gather evidence at the scene that led to the identification of Mr. Rodrigues as a suspect.”

“Thankfully no one was hurt during the incident and we were able to quickly bring this case to a close,” McNeil continued. “I would also like to thank our law enforcement partners who assisted with the investigation.”

Chief McNeil recognized the efforts of Somerset Police Detective Lt. Jason Matos, Detective Sgt. William Tedford, Detective Nicholas Davidson, Detective James Cardella and Officer Michael DeMoranville in the investigation.