He’s written so many notes, his hand must be cramping.
Cops are hot on the heels of a very prolific – yet maybe not so profitable — bank bandit who has hit five borough branches in the last month.
While the thief, described as a six-foot-tall black male in his thirties, spends most of his time in Bensonhurst, he has ventured out to Windsor Terrace to rob at least one bank there, investigators announced when they connected the five cases recently.
The thief robbed the Windsor Terrace bank twice, officials said last week.
At the same time, detectives have released a clearer, updated photo of the thief snapped up by a surveillance camera. Police previously released a surveillance photo of the suspect – although most of his head was covered with an oversized baseball cap – after he robbed the Capital One Bank at 2150 76th Street on April 16.
During that heist, which ultimately failed, the thief entered the bank at 5 p.m. and handed a teller a note which made no threats. Instead, it only read “100s, 50s and 20s.”
The teller didn’t quite know what to make of the note, police were told.
Frustrated, the thief stormed out of the bank empty-handed, only to resurface nearly two hours later at the Commerce Bank at 210 Prospect Park West, where he attempted the same scam, although albeit this time more successfully.
Banking on his past success, the thief reportedly returned to the same Commerce Bank on April 21, robbing the place of an undetermined amount of money.
Investigators said that the thief is also responsible for holding up the Capitol One Bank at 2150 86th Street on the afternoon of March 28 and the Commerce Bank at 2173 86th Street on April 4.
In each case, the thief would approach the teller with a note demanding money.
No injuries have been reported.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this thief’s whereabouts to call the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
—Tom Tracy
