KEARNY – The man who was responsible for four area bank robberies within a month last year, who reportedly jeopardized the life of a Kearny police officer while fleeing one of the crimes, and who was finally nabbed after a high-speed chase up Rt. 21, pleaded guilty last week to all of the heists, federal authorities announced.
Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick said James Lockwood, 39, entered the pleas April 18 before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark Federal Court. Lockwood faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the four counts.
When he was arrested Sept. 23, 2016, he was identified as being from Laureldale, Pa., but Fitzpatrick’s press release gave the robber’s residence as Newark.
Authorities said Lockwood’s spree started Aug. 16, 2016, when he held up the M&T Bank in Lyndhurst and ended with the Sept. 16 robbery of a Capital One Bank in Clifton. In the interim, he held up the Schuyler Savings Bank on Davis Ave. in Kearny twice — on Aug. 25 and Sept. 8.
After the second Kearny robbery, one of the responding KPD officers, Steven Hroncich, stopped a suspicious vehicle on Schuyler Ave. near Bergen Ave. and reportedly saw the driver push what looked like a bag under the front seat.
At that point, police said, Hroncich leaned into the car and tried to take the keys, but the motorist put it in drive, and Hroncich was dragged about 100 feet before managing to free himself without suffering serious injury. He also managed to get a good description of the driver and the vehicle.
Kearny detectives — working with other law enforcement agencies, crime-pattern analysis and surveillance tapes — gathered further information, and on Sept. 23, KPD Det. Ray Lopez and Officer Daniel Esteves set up a stake-out in an unmarked car on Rt. 21 in Newark. When they observed a 2000 Nissan Maxima with Pennsylvania registration enter the highway and head north toward Kearny, they followed.
As the Nissan approached the Belleville Pike bridge, police said, the driver — Lockwood —apparently realized he was being tailed and began to speed up. Near the Lyndhurst Bridge, they said, he drove onto the shoulder of the highway and increased his speed even more.
The pursuit continued onto the Rt. 21 ramp to Rt. 3, where the Nissan hit the median, overturned and skidded several hundred feet before coming to rest on its roof. Police said Lockwood tried to crawl out the passenger-side window, but was immediately taken into custody by the KPD.
He has remained in custody since then.
Fitzpatrick said Lockwood admitted that, during each of the robberies, he threatened to use force while demanding money from the bank employees.
Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 2.
