Men ages 71 and 52 charged in Blackwood bank robbery

They might be a little old to be holding up banks, and the use of a cordless drill as a weapon was unorthodox.

But, authorities said yesterday, that didn't stop two Cherry Hill men - one 52 and the other 71 - from robbing the TD Bank on College Drive in Blackwood late Friday.

The two were later arrested by Gloucester Township police; a Camden County sheriff's officer with his K-9 partner, Axel; and Cherry Hill police.

Timothy Connell, 52, was charged with robbery, resisting arrest, terroristic threats, and weapons offenses. He was held yesterday at the Camden County Correctional Facility in default of $250,000 bail.

Cherry Hill officers picked up a man accused of driving the SUV used in the robbery. Identified as 71-year-old Alexander Currie, he was charged with conspiracy to commit bank robbery and released pending his court hearing.

"As a result of this arrest," police said, Connell also was charged with robbing the TD Bank at Haddonfield and Church Roads in Cherry Hill shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday. Bail for that holdup was set at an additional $250,000.

In the Blackwood robbery, Gloucester Township police were called to investigate shortly after 7 p.m. Friday.

When they arrived, witnesses directed them to a white SUV speeding away south on Peter Cheeseman Road. Two officers tried to stop the vehicle next to Camden County College, but it continued to Gloucester Township Community Park, where a passenger with a backpack ran off into woods.

The officers chased him while the SUV took off again, this time west on Hickman Road.

A county sheriff's officer and his K-9 partner assisted officers in the woods and helped subdue the suspect, who was treated for a dog bite and cuts at Kennedy Memorial Hospitals-University Medical Center/Washington Township.

Police said they had recovered the money taken from the bank and a cordless drill used to simulate a weapon.