A 68-year-old New Jersey man who allegedly claimed he was carrying a gun as he tried to rob three banks in downtown Boston within 27 minutes on Saturday is scheduled to appear in court Monday.
Anthony Matarazzo allegedly entered the East West Bank on Harrison Avenue at 12:17 p.m. and passed a note to a bank employee demanding $200 in cash, police said in a statement.
The employee refused to hand over the cash and Matarazzo left after a few minutes, police said. Police shared a photograph and a description of the suspect to other officers.
About 21 minutes later, officers were called to the Cathay Bank on Washington Street, where a man had handed a bank employee a note demanding $200 in cash.
The employee told officers “the suspect claimed he was armed with a firearm” and left with an undisclosed amount of money, police said.
Six minutes later, police went to the Bank of America at 630 Washington St. for a reported robbery, police said. Officers found a man matching the description of the suspect in the earlier incidents and arrested Matarazzo.
Matarazzo had some cash on him when he was arrested along with a note, police said. He did not have a gun, police said.
He is scheduled to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on armed bank robbery charges, police said.
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him @JREbosglobe.