EAST HARLEM — A bank robber hit two Chase banks hours apart, threatening to shoot tellers if they resisted and stole about $38,000 before getting caught by police.
The first robbery happened at the Chase bank at 179 E. 116th St. about 9 a.m. Thursday, according to the NYPD.
Rances Perez, 19, walked up to the counter, said "I need to make a withdrawal" and then handed a teller a note, according to the criminal complaint.
The note read, “This is a robbery. Clear the f***ing teller now. Will shoot [if] you don’t cooperate,” according to the NYPD.
A teller handed the man more than $16,000 in cash, which he placed in a black garbage bag. When he left the store he ditched the garbage bag and put the money in a blue bag, police said.
Perez headed to another Chase bank, this one at 2195 Eight Ave. about an hour later.
He passed the teller a similar note and said he had a gun and was not afraid to use it, according to a criminal complaint.
The teller gave him $22,000 in cash.
An officer confronted Perez outside the bank soon after the robbery and he was caught after a brief chase, according to the NYPD.
He was charged with robbery and is being held on $75,000 bail. He is due in court Thursday, records show.
Perez’s lawyer did not immediately respond to questions about the case.
