New York robber on the run after stealing just $605 from six banks across city

An allegedly well-practiced New York bank robber is on a losing streak – and still on the run – after hitting six Chase branches across Queens, Brooklyn, Harlem and the Bronx over five consecutive days and coming away with just $605, according to authorities.New York police have yet to catch the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Gustavo DeJesus Torres, who began holding up the banks on Friday, 13 March and informing tellers in a written note that they might get hurt if they didn’t hand over the cash he demanded.But the suspect’s success rate, luck or skill is in question after withdrawing just $320 during a robbery in Jackson Heights, $265 from a branch in Flatbush, and a $20 from a Harlem location. In three other attempts, he came away with zero. None of the robberies or attempts resulted in injuries.It is believed that in 2021, Torres pulled $6,000 from a Chase in New Jersey after handing the teller a note that read: “I’m heavily armed don’t make a scene.” He also had previously been arrested for allegedly robbing $600 from a TD Bank in Manhattan’s Tribeca section.A news release from the New York police department (NYPD) has asked for the public’s assistance in finding Torres.The NYPD identified Torres as the suspect from several security-camera photographs. In one, taken during the 57-minute interval between a zero-take robbery in downtown Brooklyn and the $265 in Flatbush, the suspect could be seen on a subway platform, holding a coffee cup.Police have said that their suspect does not claim to carry a weapon during the bank jobs and the string of stick-ups carried on until 17 March. Officials said he typically leaves the scenes of hold-ups on foot, describing him as a balding man with a beard who sometimes wears a mask.Bank robberies have been in decline for years, according to an FBI database, with 1,362 in 2023, down from 2,440 in 2019 and 7,556 in 2004. About 60% of cases are solved, with over a third solved on the same day.The average take has also declined – to about $4,200.