Suspect Arrested For Cambridge Bank Robberies

Cambridge police this weekend arrested an unemployed chef from Somerville who allegedly robbed two Cambridge banks this month, officers said yesterday.

Scott L. Leadbetter, 29 years of age, was being held in the Billerica (Mass) house of Correction yesterday after falling to raise $25,000 cash ball, Middlesex County Court spokesman Margle McGurk said.

Leadbetter is charged with two counts of armed robbery in connection with robberies at the Bay Bank/Harvard Trust branch at 1000 Mass. Ave. on March 6, and a holdup last Tuesday at the Cambridge Savings Bank, 1374 Mass. Ave., police said.

In Tuesday's robbery, the suspect made off with $1,1000, Det. Sgt. Fidle Centrella of the Cambridge Police said.

Centrella said he arrested Leadbetter at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Drumlin's bar, 874 Mass. Ave. Centrella said Leadbetter had a marked bill from one of the banks in his pocket at the time of his arrest.

"It's not often that you catch a robber with baited money in his pocket," Centrella said.

Centrella said that he and fellow detectives Robert Sullivan, Bruce Cromwell and Richard Gardner used bank surveillance photographs to help nab the suspect. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified of the detectives' inquiry, Centrella added.

The defendant, who was arraigned in Third District Court in East Cambridge, has no prior criminal record in Massachusetts, Centrella said.

In last Tuesday's robbery, a teller at the Cambridge Savings branch across from Harvard Yard told police that the suspect handed her a note saying he had a gun and wanted bills in various denominations.

Leadbetter is due to appear in Third District Court on March 28, court spokesman McGurk said.