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Man Allegedly Uses Remote Control to Hold Up Upper West Side Bank

By DNAinfo Staff on June 8, 2010 8:36am  | Updated on June 8, 2010 9:04am

Edward Callahan, 55, tried to rob a bank at 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue with a television remote control
Edward Callahan, 55, tried to rob a bank at 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue with a television remote control
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Flickr/Rev Billy & The Church of Life After Shopping

By Simone Sebastian

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

UPPER WEST SIDE — A foiled bank robbery probably has a remote-control wielding suspect wishing he could press rewind.

A 55-year-old man ambled into the Chase bank at Columbus Avenue and 72nd Street at noon Monday armed with a television controller, according to the New York Post. Edward Callahan allegedly flashed the clicker to bank employees and declared that he had a bomb.

A bank worker quickly hit an alarm to alert police of the attempted robbery.

Callahan fled empty-handed when the alarm went off, according to the Daily News. However, the Post reports that a bank manager gave him a black bag with unknown contents inside.

Callahan, who news reports say was homeless, was quickly arrested less than a block away.

"He stopped in his tracks and started shaking like he had a seizure," a nearby coffee shop employee told the Post.