Fairhaven Bank Robbery Suspect Prompts Hastings Lockdown

FAIRHAVEN – A 24-year-old Westfield man fled into the woods after allegedly robbing Citizens Bank off Alden Road Wednesday afternoon, prompting a temporary lockdown at nearby Elizabeth I. Hastings Middle School.

After a 30-minute search, Konstantin Gladysh was arrested without incident and charged with armed robbery while masked, larceny over $1,200 and larceny from a building, according to the Fairhaven Police Department.

Officers responded to a robbery call at the 21 Fairhaven Commons Way bank around 2 p.m. Employees told police that a man had passed a teller a note in which he claimed to be armed and demanded cash, though he never showed a weapon.

Get our free mobile app

The suspect, later identified as Gladysh, allegedly left the building with an undisclosed sum and disappeared into the woods off Bridge Street, about a half-mile away, behind the middle school, police said.

Fairhaven, Acushnet, Mattapoisett and state police, along with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit, formed a perimeter around and searched the wooded area.

Hastings, which was preparing to dismiss students, went into a lockdown “out of an abundance of caution,” according to Fairhaven police.

“To maintain the safety of all students and staff, until we could confirm that the suspect did not have a weapon, we had to treat the situation as if there was one,” Fairhaven Public Schools Superintendent Tara Kohler said in a statement.

The lockdown ended after the suspect was found by the K9 unit and arrested, according to police. It ran from 2:10 to 2:26 p.m., Kohler said.

No injuries were reported.

“Thank you to our law enforcement partners who quickly came to provide assistance," Fairhaven Police Department spokesperson Lt. Kevin Kobza said in a news release.

Gladysh, who also had an active warrant for larceny, was scheduled to be arraigned March 17 at New Bedford District Court.