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<p>A federal grand jury in Scranton has indicted two men on allegations they conspired to rob a branch of Luzerne National Bank in Plains Township.</p><p>Gerald Pambianco, 29, and Derek Spaide, 26, were arrested by a team of Plains Township police and state police on May 16 following a several mile pursuit that ended with a pit maneuver on the North Cross Valley Expressway, about one hour after the bank heist.</p><p>The indictment alleges Spaide covered his face with a T-shirt and entered the bank along state Route 315 armed with a rifle which he aimed at a bank employee, demanding money.</p><p>Spaide ran out of the bank with a bag full of cash and got into a vehicle driven by Pambianco, the indictment alleges.</p><p>Court papers filed after their arrest say Pambianco covered the license plate of the vehicle prior to the robbery.</p><p>A Pittston Township police officer reported spotting the vehicle northbound on Interstate 81 and attempted to pull the car over, but the driver &#8212; allegedly Pambianco &#8212; would not stop.</p><p>Pambianco turned around at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport and headed back south on 81, turning onto the North Cross Valley Expressway where he and Spaide were captured after the police induced crash.</p><p>The federal grand jury indicted Pambianco and Spaide each with criminal conspiracy to commit a violent crime while carrying or brandishing a firearm, bank robbery, bank robbery while carrying or brandishing a firearm, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.</p><p>Pambianco and Spaide have been jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $350,000 total bail each.</p><p>After their arrest, authorities allege they recovered three .22-caliber rifles in the vehicle, along with items stolen during burglaries from two houses.</p><p>One of the houses was on Confers Lane in Salem Township, which police in Salem Township said occurred after 7 a.m. and before 1 p.m. the same day of the bank heist.</p><p>Items allegedly stolen from the Salem Township house were recovered in the vehicle, court records say.</p><p>Pambianco, of Crow Street, Plains Township, and Spaide, of South Main Street, Hanover Township, have not been charged for the second burglary, which is believed to have taken place in Hanover Township.</p><p>After their arrest, Pambianco and Spaide allegedly told Plains Township police they decided to rob a bank because they didn&#8217;t get any cash during the home burglaries.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Spaide_Pambianco-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Spaide and Pambianco </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Spaide_Pambianco-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Spaide and Pambianco </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Two alleged bank robbers indicted by federal grand jury