Brooklyn grand jury indicts man in 10-day bank robbery spree

Defendant Collected More Than $22,000 from Three Banks

April 3, 2014 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson announced Wednesday the indictment of Michael Rodriguez, 33, accused of robbing three banks and attempting to rob a fourth between March 16 and March 26. The defendant faces multiple charges of larceny and robbery, among others.

“We simply will not allow anyone to rob our banks in broad daylight and terrorize bank tellers in the process. We will hold the Defendant accountable for this bank robbery spree,” said District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson.

According to court documents, Defendant Rodriguez followed a distinct pattern. Each time, he allegedly gave the bank teller a hand-written note, written in the same pen, on the same type of paper with identical wording, including misspellings. The defendant demanded money and said he had a gun. He never spoke. In addition, Rodriguez consistently wore a hooded black full length “North Face” coat with logo. There were surveillance photos taken at each location.

These are the locations for each robbery:

March 16: Defendant took $5,761 from Flushing Bank, 4616 13th Ave.

March 19: Defendant took $485 from Investor’s Bank, 431 Court St.

March 21: Defendant took $16,943 from Flushing Bank, 7102 3rd Ave.

March 26: Defendant was turned away by a bank teller at Apple Bank, 1973 86th St.

The defendant Rodriguez was arrested on the same day of his last attempt at his home at 2860 West 23rd St. Prior to his arrest, the police matched the defendant’s fingerprints to prints found on the note from the March 19th incident. The note from the fourth location was found in the defendant’s car.