Robber of Sovereign Bank branch in Brooklyn Heights gets 26 years

September 4, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
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Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes on Tuesday announced the sentencing of Edward Pride, 49, to 26 years in prison for robbing the same Sovereign Bank twice in two weeks, in February 2011.    

At his sentencing, Pride received 13 years in prison, to run consecutively, for each robbery. He was convicted on July 17, of two counts of Robbery in the First Degree.

On Feb. 11, 2011, Pride walked into the Sovereign Bank branch on Montague Street, in Brooklyn Heights, and handed a bank teller a note, which read, “No dye packs, no one has to get hurt.”

He then made a gesture, with his hand in his jacket pocket, which was intended to lead the teller to believe he had a gun. She gave him $2,500, and he left.

On Feb. 24, Pride entered the same Sovereign Bank branch, approached the same teller, and made the same gesture and demands. She gave him $3,500.

On March 3, Pride walked into a Sovereign Bank on Atlantic Avenue, and a teller, suspicious of Pride’s behavior, notified security, prompting Pride to run out of the bank. He was arrested nearby.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Sabeeha Madni, of the Blue Zone.

However, it looks like thieves are still targeting the bank.

According to the New York Post, police are seeking three men suspected of hitting the Sovereign branch on Montague Street at about 10:20 a.m. last Thursday.

One of the thugs reportedly gave a teller a very similar message to the robbers last year: “Put all the money on the counter! No dye pack! And don’t make me use the gun!”

The teller complied, and the robber stuffed some bills into a bag as an accomplice served as lookout. A third displayed a semiautomatic pistol, and all three fled with an undisclosed amount of money.

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