A man in a wheelchair is accused of robbing a Long Island City bank yesterday afternoon.
According to the NYPD, the incident occurred at 2:10 p.m. at the Santander Bank, located at 37-10 Broadway: The suspect “passed a note to the teller demanding cash. The suspect removed $1,212 in cash and fled westbound on Broadway in a wheelchair.”
The Post reports, “The crook told the teller he had a gun, but he never actually displayed a weapon, according to authorities. The apparently disabled suspect was moving so fast in his wheelchair that he was already out of sight by the time the NYPD scrambled helicopters. Investigators are looking at whether the heist was an inside job, sources said.” Apparently there was no dye pack in the money.
Police released surveillance images of the suspect, describing him as 25-30 years old, about 160 pounds, clean shaven, wearing a grey hoodie and in a black wheelchair.
A Satander bank spokesperson told the Post, “We are grateful that no customers or any of our colleagues were injured. We are not commenting any further at this time due to an ongoing investigation.”
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.