Massachusetts Man Sentenced to 9 ½ Years for York Bank Robbery

PORTLAND, Maine: A Massachusetts man was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Portland for robbing a Bangor Savings branch in York. 

U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock sentenced Brandon Simmons, 35, to 115 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $7,162 in restitution to Bangor Savings Bank. Simmons pleaded guilty on September 27, 2022.

According to court records, on November 1, 2021, Simmons entered a Bangor Savings Bank in York, telling a teller that he had a bomb and demanding money. Simmons then grabbed cash from the teller’s drawer, left the bank and fled in a white work van.

Simmons was quickly identified as a suspect through the combined efforts of the FBI, York Police Department and law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts. Simmons was also identified as the suspect in the October 30, 2021, robbery of a CVS Pharmacy in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

From November 1-3, 2021, Simmons led police on a series of high-speed chases in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In his attempts to avoid apprehension, he assaulted a police officer, attempted to carjack a civilian bystander, stole multiple vehicles and crashed his van into a truck driven by a bystander. Simmons was apprehended by Massachusetts State Police on November 3, 2021 at a hotel in Peabody, Massachusetts.

On May 10, 2023, Simmons pleaded guilty to Commonwealth of Massachusetts charges in connection with the robbery in Newburyport, as well as multiple charges related to his conduct while fleeing from police.