NEWS

Woman admits to Parsippany, Springfield bank heists

PEGGY WRIGHT @PeggyWrightDR

A Newark woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to helping a male friend rob banks in Parsippany and Springfield in 2013 and said the $450 share she received was used to buy Christmas presents for her son.

In admitting to two bank robberies before Superior Court Judge Stuart Minkowitz in Morristown, Quiama S. Harris, 30, said the heists were her co-defendant’s idea.

But when Avery Spotswood, 45, of Newark, pleaded guilty in November, he said the robberies were planned by Harris. He said she wrote the threatening notes passed to tellers and that they split, 50-50, the $8,324 grabbed in the two robberies.

Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Sahil Kabse has recommended that Harris be sentenced on July 10 to six years in prison while defense lawyer Elizabeth Martin will argue for a five-year prison stint. Whichever term she receives, Harris will have to serve 85 percent before parole consideration.

Spotswood has not yet been sentenced on the guilty plea he entered in November. In court Tuesday, Harris told the judge she was driving around with A.S. -- she referred to him only by his initials -- in Springfield, Union County, on Dec. 18, 2013. She said she learned in the car that A.S. wanted to rob an Investors Savings Bank and had a note with him.

Harris said A.S. entered the bank, came out and she drove him back to Newark, where he gave her $300.

Five days later, on Dec. 23, 2013, Harris said she again was driving with A.S. and they went to Parsippany to rob a Santander Bank on Littleton Road. She said she went in first to check the number of customers and to buy a money order and then A.S. went inside to rob the bank. This time, she said, she got $150.

Spotswood’s plea agreement calls for him to be sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison. He also must serve 85 percent behind bars before parole eligibility.

While investigating the Santander heist, authorities said a man later identified as Spotswood approached a female teller and gave her a handwritten note that read: “Don’t move! I have a bomb. Nobody is safe until I am. No dye packs, no tracers. Put all cash in this bag.” The teller complied and the suspect fled.

Spotswood had told the judge the earlier Springfield bank heist was carried out in the same manner as the Parsippany robbery, with a note threatening use of a bomb.

Members of the Parsippany Police Department and the Morris County Prosecutor's Office obtained photos from Santander Bank that showed a man committing the robbery. Detective Joseph Puso reached out to law enforcement agencies in New Jersey describing the robbery, including the contents of the note and images of the male suspect. In response, police learned of a similar incident in Springfield.

A Springfield detective told Puso that he had developed information from a license plate of a vehicle that was in the area of the Dec. 18 Springfield robbery. The vehicle was registered to Quiama Harris, according to authorities.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com