Martha’s Vineyard Man Sentenced for Cape Cod Bank Robbery

BOSTON (WBSM) — An Edgartown man was sentenced Feb. 5 for robbing a Falmouth bank.

In October 2023, Petar Petyoshin, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of armed bank robbery. Petyoshin zip-tied bank employees and customers, showed a gun, placed a purported bomb on the counter and fled the scene in the vehicle of a bank customer

Petyoshin departed Martha’s Vineyard in April of that year aboard a Steamship Authority vessel at 7 a.m. and arrived at Woods Hole in Falmouth. Later that morning, he entered the Rockland Trust Bank in Falmouth. Petyoshin pointed the gun at the tellers and customers, telling one bank employee, “I’m robbing you,” before having the customers and bank employees zip-tie one another’s hands together.

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Petyoshin had two tellers place over $20,000 in cash from the bank into a brown bag, took a customer’s car keys and fled the scene in the customer’s vehicle. Petyoshin boarded a return ferry to Martha’s Vineyard.

On May 23, 2023, Petyoshin was arrested on state charges in connection with the robbery. A subsequent search of his residence in Edgartown resulted in the recovery of thousands of dollars in cash bundled together in Rockland Trust money bands and zip ties.

In their recovery, police also found clothing that Petyoshin was seen wearing on surveillance during the robbery.

Immediately following the robbery, Petyoshin made a downpayment on a lease for a new Mercedes with several-thousand dollars in cash.

Petyoshin was sentenced to more than eight years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.