Bay Shore woman faces bank robbery charges

A customer in a Deer Park bank stopped a woman who, police said, had just committed a robbery there, holding her until First Precinct officers arrived.

Jean Coughlin, 45, of Bay Shore, was charged in three bank robberies, including the one Tuesday in which she handed a teller at the Chase Bank at 615 Grand Blvd. a note demanding cash at 3:22 p.m. and threatened violence, a police news release said.

"The teller complied with Coughlin's demands and gave her cash from her drawer," the release said. She was just about to walk out the door with the money when she was stopped by the customer, police said.

Coughlin is charged with third-degree robbery in Tuesday's incident, and police said further investigation connected her to two other bank robberies this year in Suffolk County. She faces two counts of third-degree robbery in those bank heists, police said.

Police also arrested Jesse Stewart, 37, of 2 Aldersgate, Riverhead, on robbery charges. He is alleged to be Coughlin's getaway driver in Tuesday's robbery, police said.

Police did not provide details of how the customer detained Coughlin or the customer's identity.

Stewart was held at the Seventh Precinct in Shirley. At arraignment in First District Court in Central Islip, Coughlin, of Hemlock Drive, was ordered held on $630,000 bond or $210,000 cash.