Tellers, cops stop two-state crime spree

Sun Bank's branch at 303 Beckett Road in Logan Township, outside a suburban shopping center in western Gloucester County not far from the Commodore Barry Bridge, might look like it's made for a quick getaway. It's just "a stone's throw" from I-295's Exit 10, as Logan Police Capt. Robert Leash told me.

But a Delaware County man who tested that idea learned quickly he was no match for bank workers, or suburban and small-town cops.

On June 1, a little after 1:30, according to police reports, David Verdi of Upper Darby stepped up to a teller window and flashed a note: "I have a gun. Put money in bag. $100s, $50s, $20s. No dye packs. No one will get hurt. Act normal." A woman friend waited outside in his '98 Chevy pickup.

The bankers gave Verdi $1,200. He rushed out to the truck, and was gone up the highway. The bank workers, of course, called police, giving Logan officers "a real accurate description." Logan Patrolman Bill Franklin spotted the truck heading north on I-295. He was southbound, but radioed officers from the nearby Greenwich, East Greenwich and Paulsboro departments. They surrounded Verdi's truck at Exit 18. He went quietly.

Verdi was wanted. According to Ocean City, N.J. police, he'd stolen the truck there. According to Sharon Hill, Pa. police, he'd robbed a bank there. Got away both times. A Gloucester County judge ordered Verdi held on initial $250,000 bail. The woman accompanying him was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. And this week, New Jersey state officials and Sun Bank executives came back to Logan to personally thank Teller Supervisor Christy Ambrosius, Personal Bankers Lori A. Glass and Jen Koeturius, and teller Alexander Valletta for their quick, accurate descriptions, applying lessons taught by Sun security chief John Dickerson.