City police are working with Longmeadow police and state troopers in seeking a city man identified as a suspect in a March 24 robbery of a Berkshire Bank branch in Longmeadow.
Longmeadow Police Capt. John Stankiewicz reports in an April 3 statement that a suspect in the robbery, Desiree Ferreira, 19, of Westfield, turned herself into Longmeadow police after learning that police wanted to question her about the theft.
Stankiewicz also reported that “an exhaustive investigation” by Longmeadow detectives working with State Police revealed that the vehicle in which Ferreira allegedly fled the scene of the bank robbery was operated by Douglas Morse, 32, of Westfield.
Morse is the elder brother of Alex Morse, the current mayor of Holyoke.
The mayor issued a statement early in March after the arrest of his brother in Northampton on narcotics charges acknowledging that his brother “has struggled with addiction most of his adult life.”
He reiterated his response recently after the reports of his brother’s involvement in the Longmeadow bank robbery and said “I know that good people can do bad things when overtaken by substance abuse.”
Det. Ray Manos said that he assisted Longmeadow police and state troopers when they came to the city seeking the suspects.
He said that Ferreira, who he said was also associated with an address in Fairhaven, has no record with city police. He said that although she may have reported to be living on Elm Street, no street number was specified and opined that she may be a recent arrival to the city.
Morse, on the other hand, is known to members of the department, and has ties to the city but Manos said that his last known address is 7 Free St., the site of the Samaritan Inn shelter for homeless persons.
He said that when he sought Morse there, staff informed him that, although Morse’s possessions were at the shelter, he had not been seen there since the robbery.
