Like many people, I read the Sunday New York Times when I can. Despite the plunge in advertising, it’s still a formidable paper.
That’s why I didn’t see last Sunday’s Metropolitan section story on Westport until now.
This is not a drawing of the Westport bank robber
The piece describes the upsurge in bank robberies along the “Gold Coast.” It highlights a recent robbery at the TD Bank branch on Charles Street, across from Luciano Park. The suspect drove away in a very “Gold Coast” black BMW.
Yet despite popular perception that the crime wave has roots in the bad economy, an FBI agent says no. “We have yet to run into a guy who says, ‘I robbed a bank because my 401(k) tanked.”
Law enforcement authorities believe, however, that as banks become more user-friendly by lowering counters and acting real friendly — moves tied, no doubt, to the hits they’ve taken to their bottom lines and reputations — robbers notice. And pounce.
And, the Times notes, in places like Westport, black BMWs still “blend in better than most getaway cars.”
