A team of heavily armed FBI agents today arrested David R. Cahill at his home in Mendon, Massachusetts, following an investigation by several law enforcement agencies into a series of robberies –  at a bank in Lincoln and at several Rhode Island pharmacies.

        United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced a federal complaint that was filed on April 22 in U.S. District Court, Providence, charging Cahill with bank robbery and robbery.

        According to an affidavit supporting the complaint, in June 2007 a man later identified as Cahill, wearing a floppy-brimmed hat, sunglasses, and a latex glove on one hand, went into the Bank of America branch on George Washington Highway in Lincoln.  He gave a teller a note claiming he had a gun and demanding money, and fled the bank with $2,361 in cash.

        Also in June 2007, according to the affidavit, a man later identified as Cahill went into the Brooks Pharmacy on Mineral Spring Avenue, North Providence.  Brandishing a handgun, he climbed over the door into the pharmacy area, ordered an employee to unlock a cabinet containing controlled substances, and took about seven bottles of Oxycodone pills.

        According to the affidavit, similar armed robberies of Oxycodone subsequently occurred twice at a CVS Pharmacy on Park Avenue, Woonsocket, and twice at a CVS on Reservoir Avenue, Cranston.

        After the most recent robbery, on February 12 at the CVS on Reservoir Avenue, a Cranston Police officer pursued the robber in his getaway vehicle, a blue SUV, but the robber eluded capture as the pursuit reached high speeds on Cranston streets.

        According to the affidavit, when shown photo arrays earlier this month, a teller at the Bank of America and employees at various pharmacies identified Cahill as the robber.  The Cranston officer who gave pursuit in February identified Cahill as the driver of the getaway vehicle.

        This morning, FBI SWAT, acting on an arrest warrant issued in conjunction with the complaint, arrested Cahill without incident at his home on Hartford Avenue, East, Mendon.  He is scheduled to appear at 2:00 PM today before Magistrate Judge David L. Martin in U.S. District Court, Providence.

        The complaint charges Cahill, 31, with bank robbery and robbery affecting interstate commerce.  The charges are felonies and therefore subject to review by a federal grand jury.  A complaint is merely an allegation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

        The following agencies investigated the various robberies:  the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Woonsocket Police, Cranston Police, North Providence Police, Lincoln Police, Warwick Police, Rhode Island State Police, Massachusetts State Police, Bellingham, Mendon, and Bourne, Massachusetts Police, and Groton, Connecticut Police.

        Assistant U.S. Attorney Zechariah Chafee is prosecuting the case.