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Buena Vista Twp, NJ - The Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, working jointly with the Vineland, Pennsville, and Gloucester Twp. police departments today announced the arrest of a group of three people responsible for five separate bank robberies in South Jersey over the past month.

The spree included these bank robberies:

Following the robbery of the Newfield National Bank, Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ State Police and the FBI were able to locate and arrest two subjects for that crime, believing that they were also connected with previous unsolved robberies. Howard Hiles, 34 of 57 Quillytown Rd., Carney’s Point, Salem County, and Jenny Hedden, 29, of the same address were apprehended separately within half and hour of the robbery, which took place at approximately 1:40 p.m. Hiles and Hedden were charged by State Police for the Newfield Bank robbery and lodged in Cumberland County Jail, each on $30,000 full cash bail.

Later that same day (May 18th) Dustin Corney, 32, of 158 Roadstown Rd., Bridgeton, was arrested for his part in the May 11th robbery in Marmora. Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ State Police charged him with the Marmora crime and lodged him in Cape May County Jail on $100,000 full cash bail.

FBI agents and State Police detectives learned additional information implicating Corney in several of the five bank jobs, and Hiles all of the robberies. Hedden is connected with at least two of the crimes. Federal charges on those other crimes are pending finalization by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Intelligence, some of which was based on witness accounts of one of the robberies, led investigators to establish Hiles, Hedden, and Corney as suspects. On Monday, May 18, Hedden drove Hiles to the Newfield National Bank in a silver Pontiac Grand Prix. Hiles entered the bank and demanded money and fled the scene with Hedden after receiving an undisclosed amount of cash.

Following the robbery, a surveillance team observed the Hedden drop Hiles off at a home in the 700 block of Barrett Run Rd. in Hopewell Twp. The Grand Prix then stopped at a Sunoco gas station at State Highway 49 and West Park Drive in Hopewell where troopers arrested Hedden without incident.

At the same time, another group of troopers, including Troop A T.E.A.M.S. (SWAT-type tactical unit), surrounded the residence in which Hiles had entered, and apprehended him and another man without incident. A search of that home resulted in the recovery of cash received from the robbery.

The other man in the Barrett Run Rd. home was arrested on unrelated drug charges.

Dustin Corney was arrested late on Monday, May 18th at his residence. He was interviewed by FBI and State Police detectives and connections with three robberies have been tentatively established. Corney is believed to have been wearing a motorcycle helmet during the bank robberies and been possibly driven to the banks by Hiles and/or Hedden.

"Today, a dangerous trio of bank robbers has been taken off the streets. Due to the tireless efforts of a group of dedicated law enforcement professionals, these three criminals have robbed their last bank. These arrests are a textbook example of how the cooperation between a myriad of Federal, State and Local law enforcement agencies can, and does lead to quantifiable results," said Darryl Bazemore, Supervising Special Agent with the FBI.

"There was an incredible amount of investigative resources brought together in this seamless law enforcement operation. In the end, the public should know that robbing banks will never be a lucrative occupation in Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ," said Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ State Police Lieutenant Colonel Chris Andreychak.

A large coalition of law enforcement worked on this complex investigation including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ó£»¨ÊÓƵ State Police, Gloucester Township Police Department, Pennsville Police Department, Vineland Police Department, Gloucester, Cape May, Salem and Cumberland County Prosecutors Offices, and the United States Attorney's Office.

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