UPPER WEST SIDE — A parolee on crutches robbed the same bank twice in just over two years, hailing a yellow cab as a getaway car after ditching a cash-filled bag on the street, police said.
Herlene Lawton, 64, had been released from prison less than two months before the Sept. 9 heist — for robbing the same bank in 2013 when it was a Sovereign Bank branch, police said.
On Sept. 9, she walked up to the bank, now a Santander branch at 2702 Broadway near West 103rd Street, at about 2:50 p.m., using crutches that she left by the door before entering, police and witnesses said.
Once inside, Lawton passed a note to the teller and told her: "Gimme the cash. I know I'm going to get caught. Don't make me blast you. I have a gun," according to 24th Precinct Capt. Marlon Larin and the criminal complaint.
The teller handed over a bag containing $1,020 in cash and a dye pack, according to Larin and the complaint.
Lawton then left the bank and hailed a cab heading uptown on Broadway, Larin said. Police later found her crutches sitting by the bank's door.
When officers arrived at the scene, witnesses outside pointed them toward a bag with the cash and the dye pack still inside that Lawton had dumped on Broadway between West 103rd and 104th streets, he said.
"She just left a trail; she was very messy," Larin said.
The bank teller also said she recognized Lawton from the June 24, 2013 bank robbery, he added. The Sovereign branch was purchased by Santander in the years between the two incidents.
In 2013, Lawton passed a note reading, "I want $1,000" and told the teller, "I have a gun. I don't want to blow your head off," according to the criminal complaint for that incident. She made off with $1,000, the complaint said.
With information about the previous robbery, police were able to identify Lawton for the latest attempt and sent her photo to all the officers on duty at the time, Larin explained.
Later that night, police received a call about an emotionally disturbed woman making suicidal threats inside the Broadway and West 103rd Street subway station, Larin said. They found her near a phone booth on Broadway at West 104th Street and were able to identify her as Lawton, he noted.
Lawton — who has 34 prior arrests, mostly for drug-related offenses — was charged with first-degree robbery, according to Larin and the criminal complaint.
She has been in and out of prison since 2004, including an eight-year stint for drug sales, according to the New York State Corrections Department.
Nearly a year after her release for selling drugs, she was busted for the Sovereign robbery, for which she served a year and eight months, according to the corrections department.
Her lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.
