Whitesboro man charged in robbery of GPO Federal Credit Union

UTICA, N.Y. — Utica Police arrested a Whitesboro man, charging him with robbing the GPO Federal Credit Union.

Joshua M. Smith, 38, was arrested April 10, a day after police said he entered the credit union located on Genesee Street shortly before 5 p.m., approached a teller, and handed her a note demanding money.

Police said the teller turned over an undisclosed amount of money and Smith fled the credit union.

Smith is charged with robbery in the third degree, a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Police said they believe Smith had entered Adirondack Bank’s Genesee Street, South Utica location prior to robbing the GPO Federal Credit Union. There, they said, “Smith engaged employees in conversation but left the bank without incident.”

Following the robbery, police shared several surveillance photos of a bearded man in a dark coat, dark glasses and a Yankees cap and said they wanted to speak with him. “At this time the male is not a suspect, only an individual we would like to speak to relative to the investigation,” police said at the time.

In his arrest photo, Smith is clean shaven on his face and head.

Utica Police said that the surveillance photo and arrest photo are of the same man.

Contact McChesney at cmcchesney@cnybj.com

Photo credit: Utica Police