Police nab Linden man accused of hailing cab to rob Roselle bank

Eliot Caroom

The Star-Ledger

ROSELLE -- Cabbie Derrick Cooper didn't think twice when the man he picked up in Linden asked to stop at a bank in Roselle so he could get some money.

The only problem was the man never said he was planning to rob the place.

Michael Restaino, a 36-year-old unemployed Linden resident, was arrested moments after the Roselle Savings Bank on Chestnut Street was robbed when police officers, their guns drawn, surrounded the taxi.

"I had no idea. I was just shocked," Cooper said today. "I pulled over, and there was just a whole bunch of guns pointing at the cab."

Police said Restaino hailed the cab in Linden shortly before 2 p.m. Monday, telling Cooper he wanted to go to Elizabeth. But first, he asked the driver to stop at the bank, Roselle police Capt. Gary Riccardelli said.

When Restaino entered the bank, he handed the teller a note demanding money, Riccardelli said. As Cooper waited in the cab -- apparently unaware of what was happening inside -- the teller handed over more than $2,000.

Restaino never said a word during the hold-up.

"It was on the note: 'This is a hold-up. Give me the money and no one will get hurt,'" Riccardelli said.

After leaving the bank, Restaino got back in the cab and told Cooper to drive to Elizabeth.

In the meantime, bank employees called police and gave a description of the robber and the cab, which they said was headed north on Chestnut Street.

Moments later, police spotted the vehicle.

"Next thing you know, we got about three blocks from the bank and the officers came from out of nowhere and surrounded my car," Cooper said.

Restaino was found with a $20 bill in his hand and $2,381 stuffed in his pants pocket, Riccardelli said. He was also carrying the hold-up note, the captain said.

Restaino, who did not have a weapon, was charged with second-degree robbery and is being held at the Union County jail in Elizabeth on $100,000 bail.

After interviewing Cooper, police are certain he knew nothing about the crime.

"Usually you don't take a cab to a bank robbery," Riccardelli said.

Cooper, who has been driving a cab for Joan's Transportation in Linden for a year, said he's glad no one was hurt, and that situation seems funny a day later.

"It's something out of the movies," he said. "It's hilarious."

Tuesday August 25, 2009, 7:45 PM