Hopedale Man Sentenced in Connection with 2017 Holliston Bank Robbery

HOLLISTON – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Holliston Chief of Police Matthew Stone have announced that Oliver Walsh, 30, of Hopedale, was found guilty yesterday by a Middlesex Superior Court jury of masked armed robbery in connection with a 2017 armed robbery of a Holliston bank.

Judge John Lu sentenced the defendant to five to eight years in State Prison.

On October 24, 2017, Holliston Police responded to a report of a bank robbery that occurred on Washington Street. Upon arrival authorities were informed that at approximately 1:39 p.m. two suspects entered the bank through the back entrance that leads to the bank parking lot. Walsh entered the back wearing a baby face mask and armed with a firearm under his jacket. He was accompanied by a female, allegedly identified as Patricia Desena, 34, of Milford, who was wearing a skeleton mask and wig. Walsh approached two tellers and demanded $40,000 in cash. He then proceeded to jump over the bank counter and told the tellers to take him to the vault. Upon learning the two bank employees did not have access to the vault, Walsh told them to take cash out of the drawers. He and his alleged accomplice then fled with $4,774.

In 2018 the Holliston Police Department and the FBI offered a $10,000 cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspects in the Holliston bank robbery. On May 11, 2018, the Holliston Police Department received a tip that led them to speak to Patricia Desena. As a result of the tip, Patricia Desena was taken into custody on June 21, 2018 and Oliver Walsh was located and arrested in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

The prosecutor assigned to this case was Assistant District Attorney William R. Freeman. The Victim Witness Advocate was Lesia Schymonowytsch.

Desena is charged with masked armed robbery and larceny over $250. Her next scheduled court date is August 28. These charges are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.