Long Branch man charged with bank robbery

A Long Branch man was arrested Wednesday, Sept. 18, following a six-month investigation, and charged with the robbery of a Sovereign Bank in his hometown, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Manuel Sotogonzalez, 39, of Long Branch, was charged with second degree robbery following a joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Long Branch Police Department.
Prosecutors say Long Branch Police responded on March 4, to a report of a bank robbery at the Sovereign Bank at 600 Broadway. The suspect entered the bank and approached a teller demanding money. The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and the man fled the scene prior to police arrival.
Sotogonzalez is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, on $125,000 bail with no option to post 10 percent, set by Judge Richard W. English.