Brooklyn bank robber with bad memory turns himself in after seeing wanted poster

January 30, 2018 By Rob Abruzzese, Legal Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

A bank robber got away with no money and turned himself in to police after recognizing himself in wanted posters. He claimed to have no memory of the event. Photo courtesy of NYPD

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A Brooklyn man with a bad memory was arraigned in federal court on Saturday for robbing a bank in Crown Heights after he recognized himself in a wanted poster and turned himself in.

Juan Carlos Marrero, a 40-year-old from Brooklyn, was charged with robbing the Chase Bank on Utica Avenue in Crown Heights on Jan. 20 at approximately 9 a.m.

That morning, according to the criminal complaint, he approached a teller, put a backpack on the ground next to himself, passed the teller a black plastic bag before he said, “I don’t know what’s in the backpack, but it’s loaded. Give me everything you have. Put it in the bag.”

Marrero told the teller that his family was being held hostage in order to get him to rob the bank, according to the complaint.

After the teller informed Marrero that there was no money to surrender, Marrero left the bank without the backpack, according to the complaint. Investigators found two white plastic bottles and computer parts in the bag.

The defendant turned himself in five days later after he recognized himself on a wanted poster in connection to the robbery. When he met with police officers the next day, he confirmed that he was the person in surveillance photos. He was then read his Miranda rights and spoke with officers.

Marrero told investigators that he had no memory of the event.