Man is charged in four bank robberies

A federal halfway-house escapee has been charged with robbing four banks in the last two months. Anthony Wayne Ransom, 44, turned himself in to Reading police Thursday night.

Last week, authorities distributed a photograph of a man identified as Ransom taken by a surveillance camera during the July 12 robbery of the Citizens Bank branch at 2516 Welsh Rd.

Ransom, who wore an odd headband with a metallic object, gave a teller a threatening note and left with an unspecified amount of cash, the FBI said. He robbed the same branch in August 2003, according to court records.

In late June, while serving the end of a 92-month sentence at a federal halfway house in North Philadelphia, he failed to return after going to his fast food job in Willow Grove. He also is accused of three recent bank robberies in Abington: the PNC Bank at 123 Old York Rd. on July 19; the FirstTrust Bank at 261 Old York Rd. on Aug. 12; and the TD Bank at 710 Old York Rd. on Aug. 17. Taking part in the investigation were the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and Philadelphia and Abington Township police. - Peter Mucha