By Ayala Ben-Yehuda
A robber made off with about $3,000 Tuesday from the North Fork Bank across from the Bayside railroad station on Bell Boulevard, police said.
No one was injured in the incident that occurred around 11:45 a.m., said Lt. Raymond Spinella of the 111th Police Precinct.
The robber, who did not display a weapon, passed a note to a bank teller demanding money, which he then placed in a paper bag and fled on foot, Spinella said. The officer said the stolen cash totaled about $3,000.
Only one customer was in the bank at the time of the robbery, the officer said.
Spinella described the suspect as a white man around 30 years old, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds.
The man was wearing a red baseball hat and a red-and-blue jacket, Spinella said.
The bank, at 41-11 Bell Blvd., was temporarily closed Tuesday afternoon after investigators arrived on the scene, but the ATM remained open.
Spinella said that to his knowledge it was the first time the bank had been robbed. He said bank robberies were a common problem but were not on the rise in Queens.
Judy Limpert, manager of the North Fork Bank branches on Bell Boulevard and Northern Boulevard, could not be reached for comment.
Nancy Lee, a cashier at Golden Liquors next door to the bank, said she had not witnessed anything unusual on the street during the balmy spring day.
“This is a nice area,” said Lee, who was surprised that the robbery occurred on a block where police cars are often parked.
An employee at Marretta’s of Bayside, a bakery across the street from the bank, said she had not seen or heard any commotion.
Anna Marretta, who walked into her bakery after the robbery took place, reacted with concern.
“It worries me,” she said. “If they went there, they can go anywhere.”
Marretta said that in nearly 35 years there had only been one incident at the bakery in which a man tried to con one of her employees out of some cash.
The man fled when he saw the store’s security camera, Marretta said.
Reach reporter Ayala Ben-Yehuda by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
