Man caught after robbing two Miami banks in three days, FBI says

The FBI and Miami police arrested a man accused of robbing two banks in three days, getting away with almost $7,000 before he was caught, according to court documents.

Read more Amendment 3 seeks to lower taxes for second homes and investors. Will it?

Each time, 63-year-old Oscar Elliot Bryant walked into the banks wearing dark clothing, a hooded sweatshirt and a black New York baseball cap, handed a teller a letter saying he had a gun and demanded cash, according to an FBI criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

He hit the First American Bank at 79 E. Flagler St. around 11:45 a.m. Friday, handing a teller a note that said, “You can make it hard or easy. I do have a gun. All I want is 50s and 100s,” the complaint states, showing a photograph of the note.

The teller said she feared for her life and gave Bryant $4,750, according to the complaint.

On Monday, Bryant walked into the Regions Bank at 265 SE First St. at 9 a.m., again wearing dark clothing and the same hat with the New York Giants logo. He handed the teller a note with the same threat, according to the complaint. The teller handed him $2,000, the FBI said.

Read more This celebrated Coral Gables steakhouse is opening an upscale rooftop sports bar

The Regions Bank teller told agents she knew Bryant by name, and said he is a former bank customer, the complaint states.

Miami police officers searched for Bryant at a Metrorail transit center because security camera footage showed him exiting a train there, according to the complaint. They found him and arrested him Monday afternoon at Metrorail’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza station.

Officers found $1,679 in his jacket pocket, the report said. He was interviewed at the police station and told officers he robbed both banks, using the proceeds to buy new clothes, drugs and alcohol, according to the complaint.

Bryant is being held at Federal Detention Center Miami. His file didn’t have information about a lawyer.

Read more Weather alert: Coastal flood warning issued in South Florida for king tide