City man gets 82 months for Circle K heist, attempted robbery of Dover bank

Thomas Hegarty, left, (Dover Police photo) and surveillance image from April holdup in Dover.

CONCORD - A Rochester man was sentenced to 82 months for attempted bank robbery and robbery, and 12 months to run consecutively for violating his conditions of supervised release, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced on Wednesday.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 9 around 4 a.m. Thomas Hegarty, 26, entered a Circle K gas station in Rochester, showed the cashier a hammer, and stole cash from the register. Later that morning, Hegarty entered a bank in Dover, and passed the teller a note demanding money and indicating he had a weapon.

Tellers locked themselves in an office and called the police, while Hegarty jumped over the teller counter and unsuccessfully attempted to open the teller drawers.

He then fled the bank with no money. Investigators released surveillance photographs from the robberies to the public and identified and apprehended Hegarty later that day. At the time of the robberies, Hegarty was on federal supervised release.

He pleaded guilty on Oct. 5.

"Robberies are violent crimes that jeopardize public safety and frighten innocent victims," said U.S. Attorney Scott W. Murray. "In order to maintain the safety of our communities, we prioritize the prosecution of violent criminals. This 94-month sentence should serve as a warning to those who would be inclined to prey on their fellow citizens with acts of threat and violence. I am grateful to the FBI, the Dover and Rochester Police Departments, and members of the public whose efforts were instrumental in swiftly bringing this criminal to justice."