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'White Glove Bandit' Caught Near Tompkins Square Park, FBI Says

By DNAinfo Staff on April 18, 2012 6:39pm

Michael McManus was arrested on Wednesday, April 18, 2012, for allegedly robbing several banks in Greenwich Village.
Michael McManus was arrested on Wednesday, April 18, 2012, for allegedly robbing several banks in Greenwich Village.
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DNAinfo

By Mary Johnson and Murray Weiss

DNAinfo Staff

MANHATTAN — The “White Glove Bandit” was nabbed by FBI agents and NYPD detectives outside a bodega near Tompkins Square Park on Wednesday afternoon, the FBI announced.

Michael McManus was arrested for allegedly pulling off a series of armed bank robberies in Greenwich Village, each time wearing a pair of white latex gloves, officials said.

The FBI said McManus was taken into custody “without incident” and that the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York will be in charge of the prosecution in the case.

McManus' arrest came after a detective in the NYPD's Major Case Squad recognized him from the surveillance footage taken during the incidents as someone he had arrested in the past, sources said.

The NYPD and FBI were able to learn more about McManus from his arrest record and were surveilling the area around Tompkins Square Park on Wednesday when they spotted him. They arrested McManus as he was entering a bodega nearby, sources said.

McManus, 43, has been arrested 50 to 60 times since 1992 for crimes ranging from misdemeanors to felonies, including robbery, sources said. He served several stints in state prison and was most recently released in October 2011, according to records.

The "White Glove Bandit" was wanted for robbing a Citibank at 555 LaGuardia Place on Feb. 14 and on March 12, the FBI said. He also struck an HSBC branch at 769 Broadway near Ninth Street on Jan. 26 and then hit the bank again on Tuesday, waving a black revolver at the teller and demanding cash.

McManus robbed that branch twice between 2005 and 2006, sources said. On Sept. 2, 2005, he entered the bank and passed a note to the teller that read: "I have a bomb, and I'll blow this bank wide open. Give me the money, and I will go away," sources said.

McManus left with $8,000, sources said.

He returned several months later, on Feb. 2, 2006, but the teller hit the panic button and McManus was arrested.