Manalapan Wachovia Robber Nabbed

The Manalapan Bank Bandit that last week robbed the Wachovia on Route 9 has been arrested and implicated in nine robberies throughout Monmouth, Ocean, and Burlington Counties, according to the APP.

A surveillance photo shows the suspect passing a robbery note Wednesday afternoon at the Wachovia Bank in Manalapan.

According to a criminal complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Silvana Sotillo in U.S. District Court, 47-year-old Scott MacKay admitted to robbing nine banks since February 2009 when he was taken into custody on Saturday.

The complaint states that in at least two of the robberies - on Oct. 15 in Manchester and on Jan. 28 in Manalapan - MacKay walked into a Wachovia Bank and passed a teller a note stating he had a gun and wanted money.

MacKay allegedly made off with $3,165 from the Wachovia Bank on Lacey Road in Manchester and about $1,100 from the Wachovia Bank on Route 9 in Manalapan.

His arrest by Toms River police this weekend came hours after two additional bank robberies were committed by a person matching MacKay's physical description. No further information on those robberies was available. An FBI spokesman declined comment on the case.

In addition to the Manalapan and Manchester robberies, MacKay is implicated in two heists each in Toms River and Willingboro, as well as banks in Ocean Township in Monmouth County, Stafford and Brick, said Manalapan Police Capt. Christopher Marsala.

The criminal complaint states authorities traced a green, four-door Ford sedan used as a getaway car during the Manchester robbery to MacKay after a law enforcement officer recognized him from a photograph distributed after the Manalapan robbery.

The car, authorities said, was a rental turned in by MacKay the same day as the Manchester robbery.

Following his arrest, MacKay was lodged in Ocean County Jail, Toms River in lieu of $350,000 bail.