By JEFF LIPTON
The robber entered the bank, at 550 Long Beach Blvd., on Tuesday, May 27 at 4:34 p.m. and slipped a note to the teller, demanding money, detectives said. The teller handed over the cash and the robber exited the bank and fled the scene.
There were 10 employees and eight customers in the bank at the time of the heist, police said. No one was reported injured and no weapon was displayed by the robber, police added. Long Beach resident Teresa Rivera said she was sitting at the customer service desk when the robbery took place. “I was talking with customer service when I saw him get up and look over at the teller, which I thought was odd,” said Rivera in a phone interview on Sunday. “It happened really, really fast. There was really no commotion.”
Rivera said immediately after the robber fled, bank personnel locked the doors and police responded to the bank within minutes. She said most of the customers reacted calmly, except for one woman who was crying hysterically. “It was over so fast that for anyone to get upset over it was rather strange,” Rivera said. “I was really calm, but that one woman was over the edge about it. “I wasn’t nervous then, but I haven’t been back to the bank since,” she added, referring to the potential danger. “Now it crosses my mind. I didn’t realize how easy it is. It was a bizarre experience — that you’re in a bank that just got robbed. Thank God nobody got hurt.”
She said the customers were detained in the bank for about 40 minutes and asked to fill out a bank robbery form, which questioned them about what they saw or heard. “The bank wanted a statement from us in our own words,” she said. “You have to have a lot of nerve to rob a bank like that.”
The robber is described as a white man in his late 20s or early 30s, 5-feet-6, with a thin build, unshaven, with short, light hair. He was soft-spoken and wearing a baseball cap, light blue jeans, long-sleeve, light-colored shirt and latex gloves, police said.
Long Beach police said they are investigating whether the robber could be connected to any other bank robbery in Nassau County this year. Long Beach is working in conjunction with the Nassau County Police Department’s Robbery Squad, which has been tracking a pattern of bank robberies since February. Robbery Squad Detective Sgt. John Giambrone said police are hunting for one robber who may be responsible for up to seven heists since February, mostly in Franklin Square and Oceanside as well as Baldwin. But that robber did not fit the description of the one who hit the Long Beach branch on May 27, officials said. “What we are investigating is that since this was a Commerce Bank and a number of them are getting hit, there are some similarities,” said Long Beach Police Lt. Bruce Meyer. “We are investigating to see if this could be linked to any other robberies. It’s not cut and dry. It requires further investigation.”
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS. All calls will be kept strictly confidential, police said.
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