BY MARK HALLUM | Police are looking for a man suspected of handing notes to tellers at 12 banks across Manhattan and walking away with cash in amounts ranging from $89 to $3,000, according to the NYPD, who has identified him as Joseph Rivera, 48.
Authorities had no further information on the suspect, who they said was seen wearing only two different outfits in all his encounters at banks in Lower Manhattan, Midtown, the Upper West Side and the Upper East Side.
In all, the man has banked $11,000 in his tour of HSBC, Capital One, Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, Amalgamated Bank and TD Bank branches, officials said.
The man allegedly identified as Rivera has only been seen wearing a black or white “Jordan” baseball cap; a black and white windbreaker with vertical white font “NIKE AIR” on the back or a gray and black hooded fleece with black vertical font “HILFIGER” on the left sleeve.
The first bank the suspect hit was a Chase at 305 Bowery on Sept. 6, where the teller handed him $1,000. The most recent incident was at a Capital One Bank at 991 3rd Ave., where he got away with $1, 215.
The suspect, however, has not been successful in all his attempts.
On three occasions, Rivera allegedly fled before the teller could comply with his demands.
On Sept. 19, at an HSBC at 769 Broadway, the teller asked for ID after being handed the note demanding money, and Rivera allegedly fled on foot.
According to cops, there have not been any reported injuries during any of the incidents.
Anyone with information in regard to the identity of this male is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
