Two cops assigned to a Midtown detail during the NFL Draft shadowed a bizarre bank robber into an office building and found him hiding in a women’s bathroom, police sources said today.
The bandit first struck a Bank of America branch at 4 W. 57th Street at 3:24 p.m. Thursday. He tried to open a checking account but was refused.
“Now I know what I got to do,” he announced, pulling a Daisy BB gun from his waistband and demanding money.
A teller offered him a stack of cash but he asked a manager to count out just $500 because he thought a higher amount could land him in jail for 10 years, sources said.
Before fleeing on 57th Street, he even told the teller to call police.
Half an hour later he entered a Citibank branch at 6450 Fifth Avenue, put his BB gun on top of the customer service counter and announced “This is a robbery. Where is the money?”
While he was distracted telling customers the bank was closed, a teller ran downstairs and pressed an alarm button. The thief fled with no money.
But two cops on the NFL-related detail were on Sixth Avenue 20 minutes later when they heard radio transmissions describing the thief’s appearance. They spotted him and followed him to the plaza at 1211 Sixth Avenue, where he spotted the cops and ran in a Café Metro.
The officers found him inside a ladies’ restroom in the café, standing on a toilet so that his feet wouldn’t be visible. His gun and bag were recovered.