By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — A homeless man with Parkinson's who tried to rob an Upper West Side bank using a television remote as a phony detonator is now facing federal bank robbery charges for incidents at two other Manhattan banks.
The suspect, Edward Callahan, 55, told the bank manager at 260 Columbus Ave. on Monday that he was prepared to detonate a bomb he was carrying because he was ill and "it didn't matter to him if he died," according to the criminal complaint against him.
Wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, Callahan asked to speak with a manager privately. Once inside her office, he pulled out a plastic bag and a plastic remote control and demanded that she fill the bag with cash.
The manager noticed his shaking hands and other obvious symptoms of Parkinson's disease, the complaint said.
Nearby police officers promptly arrested Callahan in the street, where they found he was carrying the remote, a duffel bag, and two Knights of Columbus business cards bearing his name.
On May 1 at a Chase branch at 611 Avenue of the Americas, Callahan tried a similar aproach, according to federal prosecutors.
A teller handed Edward Callahan $1,000 after he showed the worker a duffel bag filled with fake explosives, according to the criminal complaint.
