A 36-year-old Oxford man could spend the rest of his life in a federal prison after pleading guilty to robbing seven banks and a convenience store, officials announced Tuesday.
According to federal prosecutors, Andrew Rendflash’s spree began April 2013, when he robbed a Naugatuck Savings Bank in Southbury.
But his to-do list really start to fill up later that year, according to prosecutors.
On Nov. 9, 2013, he robbed a TD Bank in Waterbury.
On Nov. 16, 2013 he robbed a convenience store in Waterbury, then, three days later and 75 miles away, hit a Chase Bank in fancy Somers, N.Y.
His holiday shopping could have been funded by the Dec. 16 and Dec. 23 bank robberies Rendflash pulled in Holyoke, Mass. and Brewster, N.Y.
He was up and at it again the day after Christmas, when he robbed a Citizen’s Bank in Coventry, Rhode Island.
But Rendflash’s luck ran out after robbing a First Niagra Bank in Ridgefield.
According to a story in the News-Times of Danbury, police in Ridgefield watched surveillance video and got a glimpse of the alleged getaway car used in the robbery.
The car was registered to the wife of a Derby man, David Stiber, who was allegedly in the vehicle when Rendflash robbed the Ridgefield bank.
Stiber told cops he didn’t know what Rendflash was up to, according to the News-Times.
Both men were arrested Feb. 3.
Stiber was charged with third-degree accessory to robbery and third-degree conspiracy to commit robbery. He’s due in court in Danbury on Aug. 22. Stiber, who has a clean record, pleaded not guilty to both accusations. The Valley Indy could not located a phone number for him Wednesday.
Just how the feds connected Rendflash to the six other bank robberies wasn’t clear in press statements issued by the government. But the feds note the probe was a cooperative effort among the FBI, New York State Police and a multitude of local law enforcement officers.
“I want to especially thank the officers of the Ridgefield Police Department for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution of this case,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a prepared statement.
Rendflash entered a guilty plea in federal court in White Plains, N.Y. on Tuesday.
He faces a maximum of 20 years per charge, but the ultimate decision will be left up to a judge.
Rendflash is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 14 at 10:30 a.m. in White Plains.
