Prosecutor wants accused Denville bank robber's Infiniti

The Morris County Prosecutor's Office has filed a lawsuit for forfeiture of a 2011 Nissan Infiniti that allegedly was used as the getaway car by a Morris Plains man charged with robbing a TD Bank in Denville in December.

The forfeiture lawsuit, made public Thursday in Superior Court, Morristown, says that suspect Larry Zhou told police he had never been to a TD Bank but then he plucked a TD Bank pen from his pocket during an interrogation with detectives.

Zhou, 31, is accused of handing a teller a Christmas card that demanded cash be placed in a box he provided. After the heist on Dec. 27 around 10 a.m., witnesses told police the suspect fled from the TD Bank on East Main Street in a vehicle described as a black, four-door sedan with tinted windows and chrome colored trim around the windows. Surveillance footage captured images of the vehicle that police believed was consistent with an Infiniti-model car, the lawsuit said.

Authorities released surveillance images from within the bank that depict a slim Asian male wearing a black knit cap, sunglasses, black jacket and gloves and yellow scarf. On Dec. 28, a Morris County Probation Department employee contacted police to report that the person caught on camera appeared to be Larry Zhou, according to a court affidavit.

Zhou had been supervised on probation in Morris County for a prior conspiracy charge.

Police staked out the home listed on Larry Zhou's driver's license and saw him pull into the driveway in the Infiniti, which matched the car described by witnesses and caught on camera leaving TD Bank, the lawsuit said.

Zhou was brought to Denville police headquarters, where he waived his right to remain silent, the lawsuit said.

"During the interview, Larry Zhou pulled out a TD Bank pen from his pocket, but claimed that he never used a TD Bank before. Officers showed Larry Zhou a picture from a security camera located south of the TD Bank that captured the subject vehicle. Larry Zhou admitted that the vehicle in the picture belonged to him," the lawsuit said.

In the car, police found a black skull cap, a second green TD Bank pen and two pairs of sunglasses. The amount of money allegedly taken has not been made public.

State law permits prosecutors to try to take possession of property that has been used or is intended to be used in criminal activity.

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