An alleged serial bank robber is on the run, with police saying he has hit more than a dozen banks across New York City.
Police released images of the man who they said has been robbing bank after bank — 18 in all — in Manhattan and Queens, with the latest incident coming at a midtown bank on East 57th Street and Third Avenue on Thursday. According to police, the casually dressed criminal sported a baseball hat and told those inside the branch that he had a gun.
Law enforcement sources told NBC New York that the suspect has taken city buses, cabs and subways to and from the banks he robs. Despite his weapon threat he has posed, nobody has been hurt in any of the robberies.
But that doesn't make the danger he presents any less real, said former NYPD Chief of Department Terry Monahan, who called the suspect a "desperate individual" who should not be on the streets.
"This is a very dangerous individual...Whether he simulates a gun, we have to believe he has a gun. (There are) numerous individuals in these establishments when he walks in," said Monahan. "Everyone should see his picture. Every bank, every bus station, every train manager should have his picture. We need to catch him."
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The NYPD and FBI are working together on the case. A reward is being offered for any information leading to the suspect's arrest.
