From The New York Shitty Inbox: A(nother) Robbery At HSBC?

June 30, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11211, Criminal Activity, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn 

A couple days ago it was brought to my attention by a reliable source that an attempted bank robbery came to pass at HSBC on Bedford Avenue. Well, per the following item (which was forwarded to me by an anonymous tipster) this would in fact appear to be the case:

The NYPD is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying and locating the following individual wanted in connection with an attempted bank robbery in the confines of the 94 Pct.  The circumstances are as follows:

On Monday, June  27, 2011 at approximately 1139 hours inside of 252 Bedford Ave (HSBC Bank), suspect entered the location, passed a demand note to the teller and when he did not receive money, he fled the location in an unknown direction.

Suspect is described as a M/H/40-45, approximately 5’9″, 190lbs, last seen wearing a black t-shirt, short black jeans, a gray fishermen hat and sunglasses…

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).  The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

All calls are strictly confidential.

As some of you might recall, there was another robbery at this same location a few months ago.

Miss Heather

From The New York Shitty Inbox, Part II: A Bank Robbery On Bedford?

March 30, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11211, Criminal Activity, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn 

This item comes courtesy of an anonymous tipster we’ll call “E”. He writes:

Hi Miss Heather,

Just wanted to give you a heads up, in case you haven’t heard, that there was a bank robbery at the new HSBC on Bedford Ave yesterday afternoon.  I was walking by with my wife and son maybe around 1pm and people were running out yelling “call 911” (some ducking in to Duane Reade).  An unmarked police car came up and did a crazy u turn in the middle of Bedford, coming dangerously close to pedestrians and lightly hitting a parked car before tearing down N 3rd the wrong way.  I guess large amounts of stolen money trump citizen’s safety.  No surprise there and no big deal I guess.  Anyway, not sure what exactly happened in the end but there were police swarming in from every direction and I heard there was a gun involved.  Never a dull moment.

WOW. If anyone has the 411 regarding what happened please share via comments or email at missheather (at) thatgreenpointblog (dot) com. Your identity will remain anonymous if you so desire. Thanks!

UPDATE, 10:30 p.m.: someone who was present when this dastardly deed came to pass has stepped forward to give his/her account of what happened!

I was in the bank when it was robbed. The guy came in and told everyone to get on the floor. He told the tellers to give him the money or he’d start killing people. The tellers didn’t do anything, just hid below their desks. He took one guy’s wallet and another guy’s iPhone and took off. The cops didn’t get there in time. Missed him by like 15 seconds. He only got $40 and a phone. What a loser, pretty scary stuff though.

A robbery. During lunchtime. On a weekday. On Bedford Avenue.  Yes, I would say that is very scary stuff indeed!

UPDATE, March 31, 2011 10:45 a.m.: I just received the following email from a person we’ll call “L”. It is rather compelling so I am adding it here.

Hi Miss Heather – Unfortunately bank robberies don’t seem to be something new here (altho this one seems to be the most potentially violent so far – & also the first on Bedford) – but wanted to pass these on, fyi  — (curious about the underreporting of local crime; began compiling my own area “crime reports” list) Found these 2 in Jan 2011: 

from probably The Brooklyn Paper police blotter –

Bank stick-up

A robber held up the Apple Bank on Manhattan Avenue on Jan. 20, scampering away with $1,096.

The robber entered the bank at 4:10 pm, approached a teller window and passed a note that read, “Give all the money or everybody dead.” The perp then took the money in a black bag and fled towards Meserole Avenue.

from Gothamist crime reports map –


Bank Robbery
| 185 Broadway & Driggs Ave Brooklyn, NY | 1/26/2011 5:21 p.m.  (the Wmsbg / Dime bank bldg??)

As always, thanks again for your great community coverage!

Thanks for the kind words and rather disturbing data, L!

Miss Heather