The New York Daily News by MIKE JACCARINO IN MUHLENBERG, PA. & TAMER EL-GHOBASHY IN NY-April 15, 2008
The NYPD rookie accused in a string of bank robberies not only confessed, but told investigators about a heist he aborted after getting cold feet, court papers show. A day before he stole $113,000 from a Sovereign Bank in Muhlenberg, Pa., last week, Christian Torres donned a blond wig and staked out a nearby branch, a federal complaint filed Monday said. He tried to chat up a female bank employee as she arrived for work at the Temple branch, asking about mortgage rates, but ran off after she told him he was making her uncomfortable, the papers said. "I got cold feet," Torres told investigators after he was arrested April 10 and admitted using his service weapon to rob the Sovereign Bank. He later told NYPD detectives he had also robbed a Sovereign Bank in the East Village in June and again in November - making off with about $118,000.
When cops searched his New York apartment, they found the clothing he wore in the Manhattan bank jobs - as well as the NYPD wanted posters for those heists. Torres, a transit cop with a bright future, appeared in Pennsylvania District Court yesterday. He gazed at his weeping mother during the brief hearing. Federal marshals have a week to take custody of the disgraced cop. He will face federal bank robbery charges in both New York and Pennsylvania, which carry stiffer penalties than state crimes. After his arrest, Torres indicated "that he was responsible" for the heist, said cops, who arrived as Torres left the bank holding a white plastic bag full of cash. He told cops he used the New York loot for a car and for a diamond ring for his fiancée, Jennifer Rivas, an aspiring model. Her family said she was unaware of the crimes. mjaccarino@nydailynews.com - with Alison Gendar
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