Minutes after a Newton bank robbery Saturday, police, using a hidden GPS tracker, nabbed two suspects as their car containing the loot and a disguise emerged from the Callahan Tunnel in East Boston.
Christopher A. Politis, 35, and Donald James Gillis, 38, both of Waltham, pleaded not guilty yesterday in Newton District Court to robbing the Village Bank, 319 Auburn St., shortly after 9 a.m.
According to authorities, a bearded man wearing prescription eyeglasses and a Patriots knit hat entered the bank just after it opened and slipped a teller a note, then pulled it back and barked: "Give me the hundreds."
The man put the money in a plastic bag and ran from the bank.
The FBI Bank Robbery Task Force had been monitoring Politis using a GPS tracking device installed on either his cell phone or car, prosecutors said in court yesterday. FBI spokeswoman Gail A. Marcinkiewicz would not say why Politis was under their surveillance.
Alerted to the heist, authorities tracked a black Honda to the Massachusetts Turnpike. Boston Police stopped the car outside the tunnel in East Boston around 9:20 a.m. and arrested Politis and Gillis.
In the car, prosecutors said, police found $6,999 in cash, a Village Bank withdrawal slip, a Patriots knit hat and a plastic bag containing a fake mustache, makeup and face glue.
In court yesterday, prosecutors said Politis, with a criminal record six pages long, poses a threat to the public and asked Judge Dyanne Klein to order him held without bail.
Among numerous drug charges and convictions, Politis, of 2 Whitman Road, was convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in 2002. Politis previously served 18 months in jail for violating his probation in another assault and battery conviction, according to prosecutors.
His attorney, Eva Vekos, attributed many of Politis' 41 previous convictions to drug problems.
"His record is consistent with someone who has a serious drug problem, but it doesn't show dangerousness," said Vekos.
Vekos also argued the evidence against her client is "purely circumstantial" and only one bank teller could offer police a description of the suspect. Also, police did not have any witnesses identify Politis in a photo array after his arrest, she said.
"The only connection (to the bank robbery) are things found in the car," said Vekos.
Klein revoked his bail on a previous Dorchester case and ordered him held on $20,000 on the unarmed robbery charge from Saturday.
Gillis, a commercial diver who lives at home with his mother, also has a lengthy criminal record, said prosecutors.
The state urged Gillis be held on $25,000, citing 18 previous convictions and numerous probation violations.
His attorney, Robert Menton, said authorities do not have substantial evidence against Gillis, of 96 Taylor St.
"The only mention of my client (in police reports) is sometime much later," said Menton.
Police never mention in their reports if the evidence collected in the car was in the trunk or in plain view, he said.
Menton requested Gillis be released without bail "until there is an investigation by the police."
Klein ordered Gillis held on $15,000.
Both men are due back in court on June 6 for a probable cause hearing.
FBI spokeswoman Marcinkiewicz said Politis has not yet been charged with any other offenses by the FBI.
Kerri Roche can be reached at kroche@cnc.com or 781-398-8009.
