The man arrested and charged with robbing Schuyler Savings Bank on Davis Avenue on April 12 has a checkered criminal past, one that saw him do time in federal prison for selling illicit narcotics and one that had him behind bars after reportedly robbing another bank.
According to published reports, Harun Arslan, 38, of Kearny, was also arrested in July 2016 after he was identified as the subject accused of robbing a Clifton Savings Bank in Garfield. In that case, reports say, he handed the teller a note demanding cash and got away with $3,250 in cash.
In that case, police reportedly recovered $1,600 in proceeds.
At the time of that arrest, he was detained on $150,000 bail in Bergen County.
It is not immediately clear what the disposition of that case was.
Now, there’s more.
Arslan was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison in 2012 after pleading guilty to the distribution of 300 oxycodone pills in 2010. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
It is not immediately clear when he was released from federal prison, but it was certainly before the 63-month sentence was fully served — his bank robbery arrest occurred in what would have been the fourth year of that sentence.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.