What Happened
A man robbed Chase Bank at 39 Vanderbilt Motor Parkway in Commack at approximately 4:45 p.m. on Friday, August 14, 2026, according to a press release from the Suffolk County Police Department. The suspect walked into the branch, approached a teller, and handed over a note demanding cash. The teller complied. The man then fled the bank on foot.
No weapon was displayed or described in the initial release. The amount of cash taken has not been disclosed by police.
The suspect is described as a white male, 5’5” to 5’8” tall. At the time of the robbery, he wore a baseball cap with a possible camouflage pattern, sunglasses, and a white dress shirt. No vehicle was reported in connection with his flight from the scene.
The Suffolk County Police Major Case Unit is handling the investigation.
Location & Road Context
Vanderbilt Motor Parkway runs through Commack in the Town of Smithtown, a commercial corridor with retail banks, strip malls, and office buildings clustered along its length. The Chase branch at No. 39 sits in a stretch with significant afternoon foot and vehicle traffic, particularly around the 4:45 p.m. rush window when the robbery occurred.
Suffolk County’s local incident database includes 766 recorded accidents and criminal incidents across the county. A separate arrest for damaging a Flock license-plate camera was also logged in Suffolk County on the same date.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
The Suffolk County Police Major Case Unit, which handles bank robberies and serious financial crimes, took over the investigation from the outset. No charges had been filed and no suspect was in custody as of the initial department release. Anyone with information is asked to contact Suffolk County Police.
Federal bank robbery charges under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) carry a maximum sentence of 20 years. Whether federal authorities have joined the investigation has not been confirmed by police.
Broader Impact
Demand-note bank robberies — in which no weapon is shown and a written note is used to compel a teller — are prosecuted as robbery regardless of whether a firearm was present. Under New York Penal Law § 160.15, robbery in the first degree requires a deadly weapon; absent one, the charge typically falls to third-degree robbery under § 160.05, a Class D felony carrying up to seven years. The precise charge will depend on what the investigation establishes about the note’s contents and any implied threat.