Bank robbery suspect arrested again

A man charged with robbing the Union Savings Bank branch on East Street the week before Christmas was arrested Feb. 16 on additional larceny and burglary charges.

Russell Mace, 55, of Pumpkin Hill Road was served with an arrest warrant while in custody at state Superior Court in Bantam.

He was described in court papers as a drug-addicted ex-convict who served time in federal prison after a 1989 conviction for bank robbery, was charged in the latest warrant with fifth-degree larceny, third-degree burglary and risk of injury to a minor.

The charges stem from a theft that occurred Dec. 15, two days before the bank robbery.

Mr. Mace and his wife, Erin Mace, have been in state custody since police obtained warrants for their arrest following the bank robbery.

Erin Mace has not been charged in that robbery, but she was charged along with her husband on larceny charges related to a purse-snatching that had occurred at a local supermarket a month earlier.

Mr. Mace was identified as a suspect in the bank robbery based on bank surveillance. The arrest affidavit says he got away with just over $3,000, including a marked bill.

He went to the bank that day with his wife and two young children, the affidavit says. His wife told police she had been unaware he planned a robbery.

Mr. Mace is scheduled to appear March 13 in Bantam court on the most recent charges and in state Superior Court in Litchfield on the earlier charges.

His bond on all charges is $160,000.

nhutson@newstimes.com; 860- 354-2274