By Thomas Tracy
After suffering through three bank robberies in the last six months, more security is coming to the Park Slope Commerce Bank. The 5th Avenue branch has reportedly enrolled in an NYPD program in which off-duty cops are hired as security guards, giving the robbery-plagued financial institution some additional protection. The Commerce Bank, located at 269 5th Avenue, was robbed once on Halloween and twice last week. Investigators said that they are continuing to look for the man responsible to the back-to-back robberies on Friday and Sunday. At the same time, another bank robber made off with over $1,500 from the Doral Bank at 475 5th Avenue Wednesday, cops from the 78th Precinct were told. Workers at the bank said that a white male entered the bank just before 6 p.m. on January 17 and handed over a threatening note simply reading, “Give me more and no one will get hurt.” No one was injured in the heist. The person responsible for the theft was still at large as this paper went to press. So was the person responsible for robbing Commerce last week, although that man has been identified as a parolee who was arrested for robbing a bank back in 2002. Workers at Commerce told police that the suspect entered the building at 7:30 a.m. on January 12 and hung out in a foyer until the bank opened for business. He then walked up to a teller counter and handed over a threatening note, demanding the money from the teller’s cash drawer, officials said. The thief, described as 6’3” tall and 220 pounds, fled with $2,300 in cash. Bloodhounds tracked the thief to Prospect Park when the trail went cold, officials said. But the man didn’t go too far, investigators soon learned. The thief reportedly returned to the bank just after 11 a.m. on January 14 and again passed a threatening note to a teller. The thief ran out with over $1,740 in cash, but a dye pack secreted in the money exploded as he entered a livery cab. The cab driver abandoned the vehicle as the suspect got behind the wheel and drove off in the dye-stained car. When questioned, the livery driver told police that he picked the bank robber up at the corner of Fulton and Clinton streets just before 10 a.m. The cabbie told police that he took the thief to Commerce Bank, but the bank wasn’t open yet. In order to kill time, the suspect asked the livery driver to take him to the Pacific Express Livery Station at 4 4th Avenue and then to the McDonald’s at the corner of Atlantic and Vanderbilt avenues to order some food. He said he then took the thief back to the bank, never realizing that he was intending to rob it, officials said. Calls to Commerce Bank about the robberies or the new security measures were not returned as this paper went to press. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding the bank robber’s whereabouts to come forward. Police said that tipsters could receive up to $2,000 for information leading to the bank robber’s arrest and indictment. Calls can be made to the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
