By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A man accused of gunning down another man in Chelsea's Good Stuff Diner was a bank robber and his victim was his partner in crime, police told the Daily News.
Earle Barranco, 24, who was caught after being spotted on the JumboTron at an NBA game in North Carolina, is suspected of having been in cahoots with victim Corey Scott, 28, the paper reported.
Scott and Barranco "would befriend tellers at banks," and then rob the banks, where they "would get upwards of $60,000," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told the News. Later, the pair would allegedly pay off the tellers they robbed.
Barranco fled town after the Chelsea diner shooting, which police now believe was related to the bank heists, the News reported.
"We believe the dispute somehow involved this scheme they were running," Kelly told the News, adding that Scott was carrying a 9mm handgun on him at the time of the shooting.
Barranco was caught when he was spotted at a Charlotte Bobcats game wearing the same jewlery he wore the day he allegedly shot his partner.
Barranco waived his extradition hearing in North Carolina, where he was arrested Oct. 30. He could be picked up by NYPD as early as Wednesday, Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Julia Rush told DNAinfo.
