WOBURN – A Framingham firefighter accused of robbing a Natick bank in November is due back in Middlesex Superior Court on Thursday for a status hearing.
Michael Espinosa, 34, was arraigned in superior court on Jan. 3. Clerk Magistrate Matthew Day ordered him held on $10,000 bail. If Espinosa posts bail, he will be on house arrest and have to wear a GPS monitoring ankle bracelet.
Espinosa is accused of robbing the Citizens Bank at the Rte. 9 Stop & Shop on Nov. 9. Authorities say that Espinosa, wearing a hat and sunglasses, went into the bank and ordered the teller to fill a bag he brought with money. The clerk told police Espinosa did not show a gun, but said he had one.
Natick Police released security footage of the robbery and several Framingham Police officers, as well as officers from other agencies, recognized Espinosa. The robber fled in a grey Jeep Liberty, which is the type of vehicle Espinosa drove.
Police from Natick and Framingham later that day arrested Espinosa at his 41 St. Lo Road home in Framingham. Police charged him with armed robbery.
When arrested, Espinosa admitted to the robbery, authorities said. He said he owed 15 people $35,000 and some of the people had begun threatening him. The day of the robbery, he paid one man $350 he owed. Police got the money back.
Espinosa was among more than two dozen Framingham firefighters honored for helping rescue a woman trapped underwater in a car in a pond off Gates Street in June 2015.
Espinosa also served two tours of duty as a member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. He suffered injuries both times and is 80 percent disabled, his lawyer, Charles Hughes, said at a November hearing in Natick District Court.
Espinosa was hired as a firefighter in 2008.
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date crime news, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.