bank robbery news stories on Newser

Bank Robber Leaves a Tip

Kevin Spak — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:40:05 CDT

If you're going to go off your meds and become a bank robber, you might as well be polite about it. That's what Texas firefighter Jesus Ventura did this week. According to a federal complaint, Ventura, 37, walked into a Chase Bank on April 10, asked where the bathroom was,...

Teller to Bank Robber: We're Closed, Come Back

Kevin Spak — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:04:55 CDT

Hate the short hours at your local bank? Think how Olga L. Perdomo feels. Last week, she tried to rob Albany Bank and Trust in Chicago, but was thwarted when a wily teller told her the bank was closed, and to come back tomorrow. The full story: Perdomo walked into...

'White Glove Bandit' Hits Same Bank Second Time

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 02:25:42 CDT

An armed bank robber wearing white latex gloves has held up a Greenwich Village bank for the second time in a month, according to New York cops. The man, known as the "White Glove Bandit," entered a Citibank branch, threatened a teller with a black handgun and escaped with an...

Calif. Bank Hostage Freed After Shootout

Rob Quinn — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 02:20:29 CST

A woman taken hostage by a bank robber in California escaped unharmed after a shootout that injured the robber and three SWAT team members. During an hours-long standoff at the Orange County bank, the suspect freed six other employees, but refused to let the female bank manager leave. Bullets started...

Bank Robber Busted When He Returns for Cab Fare

Rob Quinn — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:11:54 CST

Police in suburban Atlanta say they have arrested a bank robber so inept that he couldn't get his own money out of the bank. Trevor Gladston, 39, left a Wells Fargo branch empty-handed after handing a teller a note asking for money, police say. Problem? The failed robbery left him...

Bomb Latched to Hostage's Leg by Bank Robber: Cops

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:43:04 CST

An elderly female hostage was sent to rob an Arkansas bank with what she believed was a bomb strapped to her ankle, according to police. When Betty Davis, 73, entered, she told bank employees, who called the cops. A bomb squad evacuated the bank and successfully removed the device, but...

Bank Robber Foiled by ... Lousy Handwriting

John Johnson — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:18:20 CST

A would-be bank robber in Wheeling, West Virginia, needs to put Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run in his Netflix queue. Police say a man passed a note to a teller, but she couldn't decipher it and thought it was a joke, reports WTOV . "It took her a little...

Man Robs Same NYC Bank 3 Days in a Row: Cops

Neal Colgrass — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:22:05 CDT

A former mental patient allegedly robbed the same bank three days in a row this week while living the high life on his stolen money, the New York Post reports. New York City police say Charles Burnett, 29, robbed the Sovereign bank of $2,200 on Monday and used the...

Bank Heist Stuns Pious Island

Kevin Spak — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:20:05 CDT

The tiny Pacific island getaway of Aitutaki is looking for answers after someone broke into its tiny bank last week and made off with $200,000. The theft has blindsided the nation’s notoriously devout population of about 1,800, which had seen such a thing as unthinkable—the New Zealand...