SALEM — The man arrested Thursday after allegedly using a taxicab as a getaway car from a Salem bank robbery apparently gave a false name and is wanted for a New York armed robbery, two facts the judge considered yesterday in denying him bail.
Joel Magarin, 37, of 8 Porter Street Court, Apt. 3, Salem, was arraigned on six charges related to the bank robbery at Eastern Bank on Congress Street. At the time of his arrest, he told police his name was Jose Rodriguez.
In Salem District Court yesterday afternoon, Magarin faced charges of robbery while masked and with a loaded gun, assault and battery, larceny under $250, trafficking cocaine, a drug violation near a school, and giving a false name.
Prosecutor James Burbridge told Judge Robert Cornetta that Salem police discovered Magarin's fingerprints — left at the Salem crime scene — in the FBI's database. The fingerprints linked him to a September 1994 armed robbery in New York.
Magarin's attorney, Leslie B. Slater, disputed the claim that her client provided a false name to police. His name is Jose Rodriguez and has been for the past 38 years, she said.
"The allegations that Mr. Rodriguez is Mr. Magarin are highly suspect," Slater told the judge.
Burbridge argued that the older case showed Magarin to be a flight risk, as did the seriousness of his current charges in Salem and the false name he gave police.
"There's reason to believe he's wanted out of New York," Burbridge said.
He asked that Magarin be held without bail on his fugitive-from-justice charge out of New York and asked for $750,000 bail for the Salem robbery charges.
Burbridge recounted the events of the day before when the suspect, wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt with the hood up and masked by a white bandana, pushed a gun through the teller window and waved it around.
The prosecutor said the defendant told the teller, "Give me the money, man; don't do nothing stupid."
The teller gave the robber nearly $4,000, including $100 in marked bills.
Two other witnesses also described a man in the bank wearing a mask and brandishing a handgun. A fourth witness was able to see the getaway van and its license plate number, later identified as a Dodge Caravan from Finix Livery Service.
The cab driver told police he had known his fare for 15 years and called him "Jimmy" but didn't realize the man had robbed the bank.
Salem police exercised a search warrant at the Porter Street Court apartment and collected evidence, including nearly $4,000 in cash and the $100 in bait money, a large bag of cocaine, and a digital scale.
Magarin's attorney questioned the fingerprint match, saying it typically took weeks, even months to match them.
Slater also argued that the Social Security numbers for both Magarin and Rodriguez were close but not the same.
Her client had worked at Landmark School in Beverly for 13 years, paid $900 a month in child support and picked up his children from school daily.
"Mr. Rodriguez is highly involved in his children's lives," she said. "He sees them every day and stays all afternoon with them."
Despite his confession to Salem police, six hours had passed before he had been arrested at the Porter Street Court apartment. The place had not been under surveillance throughout the time, Slater said.
The apartment was not her client's but his girlfriend's, the defense attorney said.
"We don't know who was in and out of that apartment," Slater said.
She asked that a lower cash bail be set for Magarin because of his close community ties, his connection to his children and his role as a good father.
But Cornetta was not swayed and ordered Magarin held without bail because of the fugitive-from-justice charges that had come to light in the past 24 hours. On Magarin's Salem charges, the judge went beyond the prosecutor's request and ordered the defendant held on $1 million bail with $10 million surety.
Magarin had the right to have his bail reviewed in Salem Superior Court, Cornetta said.
Magarin is scheduled to return to court July 24, at which time his status with the commonwealth and the New York charges will be brought up. In the meantime, he is being held at Middleton Jail.
