Last modified: Friday, July 23, 2010 11:48 PM EDT

'Backstreet Bandit' arrested

By Laura Paine / The Daily Item
REVERE - The Boston man known as the Backstreet Bandit is being held on $50,000 cash bail after he
allegedly robbed banks in Revere, Saugus and Malden.

Rolando Gala, 23, of 56 Fernwood Road, Boston was arraigned in Chelsea District Court on Friday
following his arrest in a residence on Broadway Street in Revere for possession of Class A and Class C
substances with the intent to distribute. An additional complaint was issued charging him with the June
14 unarmed robbery of the Bank of America on Squire Road.

Judge D. Dunbar Livingston set the bail at $50,000 after revoking an initial $5,000 bail from a June 19
Chelsea home invasion case, but allowed revocation, which means Gala will be held for up to 60 days
even if he posts bail. An additional bail of $500 was set for the drug charges. He is due back in court on
Monday.

Police responded to a Broadway residence around 8 p.m. on Thursday to serve an arrest warrant. Inside
the residence, police found heroin and the prescription drug Clonazepam. They also found Gala, who
they believed resembled the suspect depicted in surveillance footage of the Revere, Saugus and Malden
bank robberies, as well as two fedoras similar to the one the suspect wore.

Gala was charged with possession of heroin and Clonazepam with the intent to distribute. Three others
were found in the apartment, including Dianna Robinson, 39, of 250 Broadway; Sheryl Maloney, 27, of
26 Holley Ave., Lynn and Michael Kelley, 28, of 16A Clinton St., Lynn. Each were charged with being
present where heroin was kept.

Police found a large amount of cash and two fedora-style hats in Gala's room. It has been reported
prosecutors said the bank robberies were part of a "drug-fueled crime spree."

Gala is believed to be responsible for the June 18 robbery of Eastern Bank, 605 Broadway St. in
Saugus and the July 19 robbery of the Bank of America branch on Centre Street in Malden. A teller
from the Malden robbery identified him as the robber. The decision to charge Gala in those cases will
be determined by prosecutors in Essex and Middlesex counties respectively.

The FBI Violent Crimes Task Force said Gala wore a fedora-style hat during each of the robberies. He
presented a manila envelope to the teller and demanded money. Once the envelope was filled, he took
off on foot. Surveillance videos did not reveal the use of a weapon during any of the robberies and no
one was physically injured.

The FBI nicknamed Gala the Backstreet Bandit because of the fedora-style hat and clothes he wore,
which are similar to a member of the pop group the Backstreet Boys, though there is no connection
between him and the musical group.