Cops: LI serial bank robber arrested

A serial bank robber has been arrested in connection with a 2 1/2 month stickup spree across Nassau County, police said Saturday.

Vladimir Michel of Brooklyn is accused of hitting banks in Wantagh, East Meadow, Merrick, Valley Stream, Oceanside, Malverne, Rockville Centre and Garden City, police said.

The spree started on Halloween and ended Friday when Michel was nabbed as he fled the scene of a Wantagh Bank of America robbery he committed in the morning, police said.

In the final robbery in Wantagh, Michel fled in a waiting vehicle and was arrested by First Precinct officers on the Southern State Parkway, police said.

The Wantagh branch is located at 3330 Park Ave.

Michel, of 120 Kenilworth Place, is accused of eight counts of felony robbery and two counts of attempted robbery. He will be arraigned Saturday in First District Court in Hempstead, police said.

By MATTHEW CHAYES
Posted Sunday, January 18, 2009

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