Millville man charged in 12 armed robberies

MILLVILLE – A 22-year-old G Street resident was charged with an armed-robbery spree of a dozen businesses across Vineland and Millville that included convenience stores, two Dunkin' Donuts and a bank, police announced this morning.

Timothy Rigoli was arrested on Saturday after a patrol officer spotted him riding a motorcycle on G Street and felt he fit a description of the suspect, Millville Detective Sgt. Ross Hoffman said.

Millville police charged Rigoli with eight counts of robbery, eight counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, eight counts of unlawful possession of a weapon and seven counts of theft. All the charges relate to robberies in Millville.

Vineland detectives added to the charges.

They have charged Rigoli with the armed robbery of the Cape Bank on South Lincoln Avenue; Dunkin' Donuts at Main and Oak roads; Family Dollar on South Lincoln Avenue; and Dunkin' Donuts on South Delsea Drive.

The Vineland robberies spanned two weeks, starting with the Nov. 13 Cape Bank holdup. The most recent unfolded 7:35 p.m. Saturday at the Dunkin' Donuts in the 2800 block of South Delsea Drive.

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Rigoli was held in Cumberland County Jail on $200,000 bail on the Millville charges. Bail for the four Vineland incidents was set at $250,000.

Cumberland County Warden Robert Balicki noted Rigoli was being transferred to another prison because he was related to a Cumberland County jail staffer.

Hoffman said the suspect description in each local robbery was for a white male, about 5-feet-10-inches tall, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, with something covering his face. The robber carried a box cutter and demanded money from the store registers.

"Through investigation, the detectives were able to determine the accused was operating a street bike-type motorcycle," Hoffman stated. "As a result of the numerous robberies, additional police officers were deployed throughout the city of Millville in an effort to identify and arrest the accused."

Hoffman said on Saturday there was a robbery reported in Vineland at a Dunkin' Donuts at 2881 South Delsea Drive. "The suspect's description was the same as the other robberies that had recently taken place in both Millville and Vineland," he said.

The Millville officer that spotted Rigoli on Saturday followed him to a Walgreens store at 1111 N. High St. and detained him.

At the City Commission meeting tonight, Mayor Michael Santiago praised the degree of cooperation between Millville and Vineland departments.

"Whenever you have intelligence in police work, it always amounts to something good and the sharing of that intelligence got this serious criminal off the street," Santiago said. "God forbid, what he was going to do next if we weren’t able to apprehend him at that time. So it was a great, great effort by Vineland and Millville police."

Santiago said he talked about the arrest earlier in the day with Vineland police Chief Timothy Codispoti.

"He said, ‘You know, you guys did a great job,’" said Santiago, a retired Millville police sergeant. "And at the same time, I told him about his people who worked with our people. I thought it was a great, great job."

Police are asking anyone with information to contact the Millville police Tip Line at (856) 825-2182 or text TIP411.

Joseph P. Smith; (856) 563-5252; jsmith@gannettnj.com