A down-on-his-luck bank robber made the ill-advised decision to knock over the same Brooklyn branch where his girlfriend used to work — and its staff recognized him from his past visits and chats there, law enforcement sources said.
Vincenzo Randazzo, 59, had just moved back to Brooklyn in February, after spending some time working as a forklift operator in South Carolina, when he decided to rob the Empire State Bank on 18th Ave. and 70th St. in Bensonhurst on March 5, sources said.
The FBI tracked him down and arrested him in his Bay Ridge home March 17, finding four handguns and more than $2,800 in marked cash from the robbery, according to court filings.
Randazzo, who was unemployed and has no criminal record, told investigators he needed the money to pay the rent, sources said.
He was indicted Wednesday, April Fools’ Day, and could face up to 27 years behind bars, with a seven-year mandatory minimum, if he’s convicted of using a firearm during a crime of violence.
Randazzo masked up before the heist, and tried to cover the license plate of his getaway car, according to a criminal complaint, but he otherwise didn’t put much thought into covering his tracks.
Wearing a distinctive-enough outfit — a yellow construction jacket, a light-gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, white sneakers, black gloves and black sunglasses, along with his black surgical mask — he walked in, pointed a gun at a teller and got $6,953 in cash, the feds allege.
He then ran off and got into his car, a black 2023 Kia EV6 with South Carolina plates, which was parked nearby. Video shows a man matching his description and outfit entering and leaving the bank, the feds say.
Shortly after the robbery, Vincenzo Randazzo was captured by surveillance cameras exiting his car and removing an object that he placed over his vehicle’s rear license plate to conceal his involvement in the robbery. (EDNY)
Bank employees remembered him, despite the mask, from his past visits to see his girlfriend, sources said.
Video also captured him after the heist, without his mask, removing something on his car’s rear license plate that covered it up, according to the complaint.
The car was registered under Randazzo’s name, and law enforcement agents spotted it near his home in the days after the robbery, the feds allege.
And the surveillance video of his unmasked face matched his social media photos, according to the criminal complaint.
After Randazzo’s initial arrest, Brooklyn Federal Court Magistrate Judge Vera Scanlon ordered him released on a $100,000 bond — secured by his daughter, an NYPD officer, sources said.
Randazzo has yet to be arraigned on the indictment. His defense lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.