UPDATE: Police Said Famby was Under the Radar Prior to Friday's Arrest

Patrick Carroll, commissioner of the New Rochelle Police Department, said that Olivier Famby wasn’t even on his department’s radar when he was arrested by Pelham police Sgt. Christopher Casucci Friday morning.

“He had no prior history of any arrests,” Carroll said during this afternoon’s press conference at the Pelham Train Station. “We knew nothing about him.”

Famby, a 19-year-old New Rochelle resident, had nothing outstanding on his record. The state suspended his cab driver’s license a few months ago, just after he went on his robbery spree.

But Famby committed no past offenses that would indicate that he was the man responsible for the eight  armed robberies, including three in Pelham, that kept local police busy for much of this year.

If Casucci, a veteran law enforcement officer with 16 years of experience under his belt, hadn’t been at the right place at the right time, there’s no telling who might have ended up on the wrong end of Famby’s gun.

“Sgt. Casucci employed conscientious patrol skill  and excellent observation techniques to apprehend this person and put an end to this crime wave that has had a variety of lower Westchester County police departments on high alert since January this year,” said Joseph Benefico, chief of the Pelham police department.

Representatives from several local police departments joined Benefico in the press conference to say the words many local commuters have waited months to hear: Famby, the man responsible for eight armed robberies in Pelham, Mamaroneck, and Harrison, is locked up in Westchester County Jail without bail on one felony count for possessing a stolen gun and three felony counts of robbery, with five more counts of robbery pending.

after Casucci noticed his car, a dark-colored BMW,  parked on the 100 block of Corlies Avenue. The car had not been parked at that location earlier in the night and Casucci checked it out to see if there was anything suspicious about it.

After inspecting the vehicle, Casucci went back to his patrol vehicle so he could ticket the BMW for violating the village’s overnight parking law.

Then, Casucci looked at the vehicle again and noticed that it was occupied by Famby.  Casucci interviewed Famby, who allegedly began making up stories for why he was parked in Pelham.

Casucci then noticed what police described as a Czechoslovakian manufactured handgun on the floor of the driver’s side of the vehicle. It was later determined that the gun had been reported stolen in Pennsylvania.

Casucci entered the vehicle, took the gun and called for backup. Officer Ryan Carden responded and provided back-up while Famby was taken into custody and placed under arrest.

He was interviewed by Pelham police detectives Rick Deere and John Hynes, along with officers from neighboring police departments. Detectives said Famby confessed in less than two hours.

Police also said Famby was preparing to commit another armed-robbery earlier that night at the Larchmont Train Station, be had decided to drive to Pelham after he was unable to find a victim.

Benefico said police were surprised to find Famby at 5:20 a.m., since all of the armed robberies were committed between 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.

“He did say that he saw in Pelham, and some of the other jurisdictions, a higher police presence in the areas of the train station and that, obviously, made his crime committing a little bit more difficult harder,” Benefico said. “So, he was obviously changing his pattern.”

Famby told police that he sold all of the items that he stole, but police were able to recover a handbag inside his vehicle and Benefico said the case is still under investigation.

Famby did not tell police his motives for committing the robberies and it is still unclear how he obtained the gun. Famby was arraigned Saturday and is scheduled to appear in Pelham town court Thursday.

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2:36 p.m., April 30, 2012: Area police officials have concluded a press conference about the arrest of Olivier Famby, 19, of New Rochelle, in connection with the eight armed robberies around train stations.

Check back later for Patch's coverage of the press conference.

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The Pelham Police Department is going to have a press conference today at 2 p.m. regarding the Friday arrest of Olivier Famby of New Rochelle.

The press conference will be held at the Pelham train station.

Police said Famby admitted that he committed eight armed robberies near Sound Shore Metro North  train stations.

Check back with Patch for more details from the press conference.