Felon admits to wearing wig, mask, robbing Jefferson bank

A 57-year-old Jefferson man admitted Monday that he put on a wig and mask and used an imitation handgun to rob a PNC Bank in the township in March.

William D. Chasmer, who has a prior conviction for robbery, pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Taylor in Morristown to robbery of the PNC Bank on Berkshire Valley Road on March 11.

In exchange for his plea, Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Troiano has recommended that Chasmer be sentenced in August to 10 years in prison, with 85 percent of the stint to be served before parole consideration. He will have to be supervised on parole for five years upon his release from prison.

Under questioning by defense lawyer Wayne Morse, Chasmer told the judge he put on a wig and mask and went into the bank armed with an imitation handgun. He admitted that he demanded money which the teller retrieved from the bank vault. The amount of money stolen has never been disclosed but it was recovered shortly after the heist.

After Chasmer’s guilty plea, his friend Janet C. Kaine, 44, of the Newfoundland section of Jefferson, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit theft and an unrelated charge of shoplifting.

Kaine originally had been charged with conspiring with Chasmer to rob the bank. She admitted on Monday that she drove Chasmer to and from the area of the bank but she did not directly plead to involvement in the robbery.

Kaine also pleaded guilty to shoplifting items from a Walmart store in Riverdale on Dec. 6. The items were recovered. Chasmer had been charged with participation in the shoplifting but the state has agreed to dismiss that charge in exchange for his plea to the bank robbery.

After the bank hold-up, detectives were able to track the money to the area of 101 Wildwood Road in Oak Ridge, where Chasmer lives, according to an arrest affidavit. Court documents show that the money had a tracking device attached to it. Police waited by the house and detained Chasmer when he emerged.

Police obtained a search warrant to enter the house, from which they recovered cash they believe was stolen from the bank and clothing that matched the robber’s apparel. The items were “secreted in various locations” within the house, the affidavit said.

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