Elderly NJ Man With Lengthy Rap Sheet Charged With Robbery Again

EVESHAM — A 70-year-old man with a history of robberies dating back three decades has found himself in police custody again.

Michael Swift, of Burlington City, is charged with second-degree robbery. He is accused of holding up a Rite Aid on North Maple Avenue in November.

Evesham police said Swift walked into the store and gave a threatening note to the cashier. He demanded. and received, cigarettes and cash from the register, according to investigators.

Authorities believe Swift is also responsible for similar robberies in Mount Laurel, Delran, Mount Holly, and Cinnaminson, an Evesham police spokesperson told NJ Advance Media.

Criminal records going back to 1991 show Swift has a pattern of committing robberies. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison at the time after pleading guilty to first-degree robbery offenses.

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Then in 2008, federal prosecutors announced another guilty plea. Swift, then 56, admitted to targeting three banks in South Jersey.

He had used a plastic toy pistol to threaten the bank tellers into handing over cash. The robberies netted Swift over $29,000 and another 10 years in prison.

Swift is also accused of attempting another robbery in Mercer County last month.

Hamilton police said that on April 7, Swift went into the Ace Hardware on Route 33 and passed a threatening note to a female employee working the register. The note claimed he had a gun in his pocket pointed at her and demanded cash, according to police.

But police said the robbery attempt failed when the worker said she did not have a key to the register and began to scream at him. Swift fled from the store and drove away, authorities said.

Five days later, police arrested Swift in Burlington.

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