‘Sleepover Bandit’ Gets Long Prison Visit

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – The leader of a gang that robbed Palisades FCU of $219,000 while wearing laboratory coats and surgical masks last week was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison. Hurgenes Pignard, also known as “Pop,” was sentenced to 175 months in prison for his role in the credit union heist and two attempted bank robberies. The gang modeled their robberies after the 2001 movie “Sleepover Bandits,” in which robbers would arrive at a bank employee’s house the night before, take a family member hostage, then rob the bank the next day. The sleepover plans went awry twice, but the gang did succeed in robbing the credit union on May 18, 2005, when Pignard and his accomplices, disguised and armed with pellet guns, stormed into the Pearl River branch of the credit union and tied up 12 employees and members with plastic ties before emptying the cash vaults. Pignard and four accomplices also convicted in the incident were ordered to pay $219,000 in restitution to the credit union.