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Phantom bank robber hits Southern Brooklyn

Phantom bank robber hits Southern Brooklyn
Courtesy: NYPD

Call him the ghost writer.

A note-passing bandit has been robbing area banks for the past seven months — yet cops still don’t have a clear idea of what this guy looks like.

Investigators said the thief has hit 15 banks dating back to Dec. 22, 2010, yet his face is always obscured with hats, sunglasses or scarves. He knows just where bank surveillance cameras are positioned — and manages to avoid them.

Cops have a very loose description of the thief: he’s either a black or Hispanic male, between 5-foot-nine-inches tall and six-foot-one-inch tall. Cops also don’t have an approximate age on the suspect, whom they believe is between 20 to 30 years old.

In each case the thief scrawls out a threatening note, waits on line and hands it to the teller. It’s hit or miss if he’s successful, but when a teller falls for his threats, he can rake in more than $1,000 at a clip, police sources said. During all the thefts, not one weapon was displayed, officials said.

His hit list includes:

• A Chase Bank on Kings Highway near E. 2nd Street in Midwood. Police say the thief began his criminal career there on Dec. 22. He passed a demand note, then fled the bank on foot.

• A Chase Bank on Kings Highway near E. 15th Street. He again passed a demand note on Dec. 30, took some cash and ran off, police said.

• A Chase Bank on Ralph Avenue near Avenue N in Mill Basin. He robbed the bank on Jan. 22 during a daring afternoon robbery.

• A Chase Bank on 18th Avenue near 65th Street. He entered the bank on Feb. 7 and passed his demand note, but fled the bank empty-handed, police say.

• A Chase Bank on 86th Street near 16th Avenue. Police said that the thief entered the bank on June 14 — four months after his last heist.

• A Capital One Bank on Ralph Avenue near Avenue K. Witnesses said the thief got on line at about 4:25 pm on June 17, slipped the teller a note, and walked off with $1,400.

• A Capital One Bank on Avenue U near Ocean Avenue. This heist, which took place on June 22, was his last robbery in Southern Brooklyn.

Other robberies also occurred in Park Slope, northern Brooklyn and Queens.

Police say that since nearly half of the robberies were in Southern Brooklyn, its very likely that he either lives or works in the area. Cops did not know why the thief stopped robbing banks for four months between February and June.

Anyone with information regarding this man’s whereabouts is urged to come forward. Calls can be made to the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-2477. All calls will be kept confidential.