An allegedly well-practiced New York bank robber is on a losing streak – and still on the run – after hitting six Chase branches across Queens, Brooklyn, Harlem and the Bronx over five consecutive days and coming away with just $605, according to authorities.
New York police have yet to catch the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Gustavo DeJesus Torres, who began holding up the banks on Friday, 13 March and informing tellers in a written note that they might get hurt if they didn’t hand over the cash he demanded.
But the suspect’s success rate, luck or skill is in question after withdrawing just $320 during a robbery in Jackson Heights, $265 from a branch in Flatbush, and a $20 from a Harlem location. In three other attempts, he came away with zero. None of the robberies or attempts resulted in injuries.
It is believed that in 2021, Torres pulled $6,000 from a Chase in New Jersey after handing the teller a note that read: “I’m heavily armed don’t make a scene.” He also had previously been arrested for allegedly robbing $600 from a TD Bank in Manhattan’s Tribeca section.
A news release from the New York police department (NYPD) has asked for the public’s assistance in finding Torres.
The NYPD identified Torres as the suspect from several security-camera photographs. In one, taken during the 57-minute interval between a zero-take robbery in downtown Brooklyn and the $265 in Flatbush, the suspect could be seen on a subway platform, holding a coffee cup.
Police have said that their suspect does not claim to carry a weapon during the bank jobs and the string of stick-ups carried on until 17 March. Officials said he typically leaves the scenes of hold-ups on foot, describing him as a balding man with a beard who sometimes wears a mask.
Bank robberies have been in decline for years, according to an FBI database, with 1,362 in 2023, down from 2,440 in 2019 and 7,556 in 2004. About 60% of cases are solved, with over a third solved on the same day.
The average take has also declined – to about $4,200.