In the end, it wasn’t his threatening notes or his love of bucket hats that doomed bank robber Richard White.
It was his adoration for his children.
A notorious bank robber wanted for 31 bank robberies – 22 of which took place in Brooklyn – was ultimately apprehended in Kensington recently following a squabble with his children’s mother.
Cops from the 70th Precinct said they had no idea that White was the man being sought for a string of bank heists that stretch back to January 2007 when he was taken into custody back on August 29, for allegedly harassing his child’s mother, who would not let him see their kids.
Responding officers reportedly found $3,500 stashed in White’s socks.
When he asked him about the money, he freely admitted that it was the proceeds of a bank robbery that he had committed that day.
“[White] was bothering her and she told him he was going to call the police,” said an investigator. “He says, ‘Go ahead’ and they lock him up and find the money.”
The investigator said that the money found in White’s socks “would have made it 32 robberies.”
Police alleged that White walked into banks armed with a threatening note claiming to have a gun.
He then threatened to shoot bank customers if the tellers don’t hand over the money from their cash drawers, police alleged. He also timed them, claiming that they had 10 seconds to comply, alleged officials.
Police said White managed to elude capture by routinely changing his appearance. Bank surveillance cameras have snapped him up allegedly wearing a full beard, a mustache, and a goatee on different occasions.
He also liked to sport different hats, officials alleged. Sometimes he wore fisherman’s hats. Other times he was seen wearing a stylish Kangol hat, alleged police.
But the real reason investigators couldn’t draw a bead on him – despite having nearly a half-dozen surveillance photos — was because he left town after each heist, police alleged.
White told detectives that after each robbery, he would flee down to Georgia, where he had a second family.
“He would take the money and go down south, where he felt that he would get more bang for his buck,” a police source said. “That’s why the frequency of his robberies was so consistent.”
During the course of their investigation, detectives noted that their suspect would usually strike at the end of the month.
“It looked like he was robbing banks so he could pay his bills at the end of the month,” one detective said.
Everything was cleared up when White was arrested.
“He kept going to Georgia because of the cost of living was cheaper, but the money is better up here,” police said.
Officials said that White was never aware of the widespread manhunt for his arrest, although he said he “had a feeling” that he shouldn’t go back to Brooklyn.
“He told the detectives that he felt he should stay in Queens,” the source said. “He said that Brooklyn didn’t ‘feel right’ anymore.”
Police ultimately connected White to the bank robberies in Brooklyn, Queens and at least one heist in Long Island.
The case has been handed over to federal prosecutors because White’s alleged criminal career crossed county lines.
