Joseph and Jennifer Carrier, the alleged robbers of Palm Coast’s Wells Fargo branch on Oct. 12, were caught Monday by Philadelphia police after robbing a bank in Wilmington, Del. and getting away in the same stolen vehicle they’d been using since starting their spree in Massachusetts a month ago.
The couple was arrested near Philadelphia International Airport in the brown Buick Encore briefly caught in surveillance video in Palm Coast. According to Philadelphia’s NBC affiliate, the couple, believed to be homeless, accompanied by several dogs and supporting a heroin addiction, robbed a Citizens Bank this morning in Wilmington. They then fled and were spotted by Delaware state police, who initiated a chase.
“The chase continued onto I-95 north, where Pennsylvania State Police officers joined the pursuit,” the station reported, citing local officials. “The suspects then crashed into several vehicles along I-95 in Delaware County near Philadelphia International Airport and came to a final stop, police said. Delaware State Police officers and the FBI took the suspects into custody and seized the vehicle, which police said was stolen. The husband and wife were later transported back to Delaware, officials said.”
In their month-long spree up and down the East Coast, the Carriers are believed to have struck banks in four states and stolen some $4,000, starting in Ludlow, Mass., then in Palm Coast, then in Aberdeen, Md., before Monday’s robbery.
Previous stories are below.
Wells Fargo Robber Identified; Suspect and Wife Wanted for Bank Robbery and Car Theft in Massachusetts
Oct. 14: Flagler County sheriff’s detectives have identified the suspect in Monday’s Wells Fargo bank robbery as Joseph E. Carrier of Quincy, Mass., 37. A warrant has been issued for his arrest with a $100,000 bond.
Carrier in late September was identified as a suspect in a bank robbery in Ludlow, Mass., where the suspect used the same method he did in the Wells Fargo robbery: he approached a teller, quietly said he was armed and asked for big bills. A vehicle matching the one used in the Palm Coast robbery was used in Ludlow: a dark-colored Buick Encore, with a with Massachusetts dealer plate of 265S, according to Massachusetts news reports.
In Ludlow, Carrier was identified along with his wife, 37-year-old Jenny Carrier, who has a warrant out for her arrest in Massachusetts for the alleged theft of the Encore. Jenny Carrier is thought to have driven the car in the Ludlow robbery. A woman drove the vehicle in the Palm Coast Robbery.
The couple is thought to be homeless and accompanied by as many as seven pet dogs. Police in Ludlow said the couple is thought to be addicted to heroin. Days before the Massachusetts robbery, Joseph Carrier had been involved in a disturbance at a Walmart in Chicopee, Mass., but was not arrested.
The previous story is below.
Armed Robbery at Wells Fargo Bank in Palm Coast’s Town Center
Oct. 12–The Wells Fargo bank in Palm Coast’s Town Center, near Publix, was the target of a robbery by a man who implied he had a gun early just before 2 p.m. this afternoon.
The man got away with about $500. The bank was sealed off from public access for 75 minutes, with sheriff’s detectives and the Crime Scene Investigation unit at the scene.
The suspect is described as a white male in his 20s to 30s, about 6 feet tall and a slender build, with facial hair. He wore a denim baseball cap, a pale pink or white long-sleeved shirt, and blue jeans, and approached a teller, implying he had a weapon.
A Flagler County Sheriff’s report detailing the incident and released on Tuesday indicates that the robber approached a teller and at first said something inaudible to her. The teller leaned in and asked him to repeat what he said. The robber, according to the teller, told her: “I have
a gun, just give me your big bills.” The man did not display a firearm. He then leaned into the counter and placed both his hands on the counter. The teller gave the man all the large bills she had, amounting to some $300. The man then leaned over the counter, looked in the cashier’s drawer, and demanded to have the large stack of $20 bills. The teller complied. The man got a total of about $500. The man then quickly left the bank.
The bank manager, Sasha Eldred, was near the front of the bank when the encounter took place. She told police she did not notice anything suspicious until the man quickly made his way out the exit, at which point the manager asked the teller if everything was OK. The teller told her: “I was robbed.” The manager ran into the parking lot to get a better description of the man, but he was already out of sight. Another bank employee saw the man run though the foliage east of the building and enter a black Dodge Magnum. The employee thought the vehicle had a Florida license plate, and that it went east through the Publix shopping center parking lot.
A witness who was at the nearby nail salon saw the Dodge Magnum slowly drive through the parking lot before the robbery and park on the west side of the parking lot. A woman between 20 and 30 years old was at the wheel, the witness told police. A male passenger got out of the vehicle, walked to the bank, then ran back a few minutes later. The vehicle fled east.
Deputies asked several businesses in the parking lot if they had outside video surveillance, but none did.
No one was hurt in the robbery. The bank’s parking lot itself had been sealed off with crime tape immediately after the robbery. But at 3:15 p.m., the tape was removed and the bank resumed business, with a line of vehicles quickly forming at the drive-through window. Within minutes all traces of unusual activity, including police cars, had vanished from the scene.
The same Wells Fargo branch was the target of an armed robbery in June 2013 when a man in an Iron Man mask burst into the bank, brandished his gun and got away with cash. Two months later, Lakhram Mahadeo, a resident of Palm Coast’s W Section, a 2005 Flagler Palm Coast High School Graduate, U.S. Army veteran and a Realtor, was arrested and charged in the robbery. Mahadeo pleaded guilty to armed robbery and sentenced to eight years in prison.
The sheriff’s office said it was preparing a news release that includes surveillance camera stills and a description of the suspect’s vehicle.
If you have any information about this or any other crime that may have occurred in Flagler County, please call Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida at 1-888-277-8477 (TIPS) or call Det. Jodi Glasgow or Det. Jon Dopp at 386-586-4801 about case # 15-104475.
blondee says
Aren’t banks closed today?
Gladfly says
Good old Palm Compton is sinking into a dark abyss never to return. At 65 years old and having lived in many foreign countries and states I have NEVER and I mean NEVER seen a place like this town.
Freddy says
Banks in Town Center are convenient to robbers because of easy access to 100 and I95. Banks on Palm Coast Parkway gets a reprieve because of construction traffic.
David S says
Look at Orlando,Jacksonville,West Palm,Tampa it only gets worse.
Wilbur says
Obviously not!
Gerald says
Now Palm Coast should start there own Police Dept.
Dawn says
Then you have NEVER lived in New York or any other State for that matter because there is NO State crime free.
Outsider says
You meant “Calm Post,” didn’t you?
bob says
where are the police they are ready to pick you up for speeding
and there are police cars every where you go but still cannot
get crooks in broad day light what a joke it always happens
here yet you are watched every where you go with police
terrible they should be ashamed
Kim says
You can defend your town all you want but palm coast sucks…I left there a year ago and came back home and am never looking back…you can keep your corrupt cops and courts, piece of crap code enforcement, crappy schools (that don’t teach cursive writing so now I have to teach my son because our home state requires it!!)and your junkies!!!!! The crime rate has gone way up since I left so enjoy….
blondee says
@Kim, I’d say you are looking back or you wouldn’t be reading FlaglerLive!
Godscountry says
I lived in Suffolk County Long Island,one of safest places in the nation[but we paid a hefty price for that safety] but,we still had plenty of bank robbery’s.I worry about violent crimes,that’s when the community had better do something and quick.I would like to see more police out in public areas,parks,shopping ,walking,on bicycles,etc The only time I see law enforcement is when they’re targeting speeders,I’d like to see more in the way of crime prevention,I believe that’s a better use for our police,law enforcement.
Gkimp says
Actually Kim, the City has become a much better place to live in the last year, one less negiative nay sayer.
David S says
The city council can be blamed for a lot of this.
Anonymous says
@Gladfy If you look at the FCSO website, our crime rate stats have gone down 7.4 %, in comparison to previous years. We have a unfortunate incident in our town, which is of reasonable size, and you make a comment, before doing any research. Isn’t this putting the horse before the wagon..
David B says
@Gladfly. Actually if you look at the FCSO website, our crime rate stats have gone down by 7.4 % in comparison to prior years. I would suggest you do some research before you make a comment like that. This was just an unfortunate, incident for a town of our size.
Billy says
Nice post…. Crime is down 7.4%, but incarcerations are way up and you need a new jail to hold all the new guests!
Barney Fifth says
Hey, another “guest” for the New jail when he’s caught. We got to get MORE guest to pay for the cost of “Little Hitler’s” confinement center . I heard their going to name it ” The Manfre Mansion ” !
Ray Thorne says
I understand law enforcement has to get to these crimes and now I know why I was literally ran off the road by a deputy barreling down Belle Terre near Palm Coast Parkway. Another car moving out of the way almost crashed in to me.
confidential says
Good work of our Sheriff Department investigators. I know soon they will catch these two.
Also I can see some of these homeless fellow Americans resourcing more to crime given the increase financial disparity between the 1% and the rest of us made worse by drug abuse…maybe the reality is that if people lost their jobs, their homes and can’t find decent paying jobs may resource to crime and getting high to overcome their problems..?
Geezer says
I’ll bet they can buy plenty of granola now.
Geezer says
Joseph Carrier needs to see a doctor – his scalp / hairline region is signaling
a possible case of skin cancer. (I hope not) The blotches are irregularly shaped,
and that concerns me.
All you sun-worshippers – please use sunblock or hats. Use SPF 45 or higher.
Florida sunshine is unforgiving. Grab a good pair of sunglasses too.
Don’t cheap out. You’re worth it, dear friends.
http://www.hoveskinclinic.co.uk/sections/patientinformation/skincancerpage.htm
I hope that the federal prisons employ decent dermatologists if Mr. Carrier and
wife are nabbed.
Geezer says
Hello Blondie:
“@Kim, I’d say you are looking back or you wouldn’t be reading FlaglerLive!”
I too fled Palm Coast, but tune in daily to Flaglerlive. Sure enough – I love the
website and the articles. In addition, I have a morbid curiosity about Palm Coast.
This curiosity is a lot like “rubber-necking” traffic accidents and train derailments.
As dull, and as contrived, the concrete jungle known as “Palm Coast” has become
a magnet for the ugliest of Yankees, and a prime place for crime. There’s actually
a lot of money in Palm Coast – just count the banks! It’s a great place for larceny!
Just ask the PC politicians! You nice folks have the distinction of living in a bedroom
community / modern-day Dodge City. Darned if that isn’t compelling……
Cut Kim some slack – she may be reminding herself that moving away was the
best thing. These stories surely reinforce that notion.
And all the pithy comments – priceless.
Layla says
Local government here are more concerned about cashing in on the latest land deal than the are about crime. What they are missing is this: The city has too many run down areas near main arteries. There is not much shopping here unless you want Target, Walmart and the Dollar Store. Palm Coast is a very low income community and that will hurt its chances for growth.
Why would I want to invest here? A handful here own all the land and have squeezed just about all the life out of it. Each time they manage to make a sale, develop something, the benefactor is the one who made millions off the sale and not the local community. We have a very bad reputation throughout the rest of the state.
We can’t even stop the local thugs from stripping the copper off a public building in plain site (the public library). We are more interested in traffic cameras and money making schemes than we are quality of life for our families here.
Because of these things, this community is just never going to develop like the others around us.
YankeeExPat says
Well the county has tried Eco -Tourism, Sports Tourism, why not try Criminal -Tourism?
THE VOICE OF REASON says
Shows how reliable eyewitness testimony can be. Car was described as a black Dodge Magnum, which is long and low-slung and turns out to be a Buick Encore, which is stubby and rounded.
Anonymous says
Bonnie and Clyde, eh?
Anonymous says
I love how many people blamed palm coasts crime rates on a couple of crooks traveling 1000’s of miles at a time to rob banks in other places too…..
if you think crime is bad here move to Brooklyn…