THE BANK ROBBERY

A wry twist on traditional news.

If you see something, do something if you can. This morning in Flatbush, Brooklyn, a local woman, Isabel Lopez, was banking at the HSBC on Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues when she spotted a man in a ski mask running for the door and sprang into action. Lopez, 57, swung her purse with force, breaking his nose and two teeth, knocking him to the ground where security guards held him until police arrived.

NJ man Frank Lewis and an unidentified partner entered the bank just before 9:20 A.M. and passed a note to the teller demanding $4,000 in small bills, threatening them with a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver. Per protocol, the bank tellers handed over the cash but pressed a silent alarm to alert the police, and another loud alarm to frighten the would-be robbers. His partner escaped, but Lewis never made it to the door. His get-rich-quick plan was foiled by a 5’2’’, 100-pound grandmother with strength of will and an exercise barbell in her bag. “I was afraid he was taking my money,” Lopez said, “He had some nerve walking out with our hard-earned money.” Eight patrol cars and 17 officers then arrived on the scene, where they booked and charged Lewis with armed robbery in the second degree. He is behind bars, waiting for arraignment this Thursday in the Brooklyn Criminal Court.