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’Black Panther’ director mistaken for bank robber in Atlanta

Associated Press | 3/17/2022, 6 p.m.
Movie director Ryan Coogler was briefly handcuffed by Atlanta police after a bank teller mistook him for a robber when …
A police officer detains “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler at a Bank of America branch in Atlanta in this Jan. 7 image taken from Atlanta Police video. Mr. Coogler was mistaken for a bank robber at the bank. Photo from Atlanta Police Department via Associated Press

ATLANTA - Movie director Ryan Coogler was briefly hand- cuffed by Atlanta police after a bank teller mistook him for a robber when he passed her a note while trying to withdraw a large amount of cash from his account, police said.

The “Black Panther” director, who is Black, walked into a Bank of America branch Jan. 7 and passed the teller a withdrawal slip with a note written on the back asking her to “be discreet when handing him the cash,” according to a police report.

He was trying to withdraw more than $10,000, and the teller “received an alert notification” on her computer and quickly alerted her manager that Mr. Coogler was trying to rob the bank, the report says. The bank employee is a Black woman, the report says.

Police responding to the bank branch in the upscale Buckhead neighborhood saw a black Lexus SUV parked out front with the engine running. An officer talked to the male driver who said he was waiting for Mr. Coogler, who was inside the bank. A female passenger gave police the same information.

A description of Mr. Coogler given by the driver matched the description of the man reported to have been trying to rob the bank, the report says. The officer detained both the driver and passenger in the back of a police vehicle but they were not placed in handcuffs.

Two other officers had gone inside the bank and led Mr. Coogler out in handcuffs.

Body camera video released by police shows officers approaching Mr. Coogler from behind as he stands at the counter wearing a light gray hooded sweatshirt, a black cap, sunglass and a white mask. As an officer pulls his gun and another tells him to put his hands behind his back, Mr. Coogler says, “Whoa, whoa, what’s going on?”

As he’s led from the bank, Mr. Coogler tells them he’s just trying to take money out of his own account.

Police determined the whole thing was a mistake by the teller and Mr. Coogler “was never in the wrong,” the report says, The handcuffs were immediately removed and the other two people were released from the back of the patrol vehicle.

Police can be seen on body camera video explaining to Mr. Coogler that they were responding to a call of a bank robbery and had to take appropriate precautions. Still sitting in the back of the police SUV, Mr. Coogler is seen on video looking down and shaking his head as the officer explains.

Mr. Coogler explained to the officers that a medical assistant who works for him prefers to be paid in cash. When he withdraws a large sum to pay her, he said, he passes the teller a note because he doesn’t want the cash run through a money counter right there because it attracts attention and makes him feel unsafe.

“I don’t know who made what call, who did what, but I just had guns drawn on me for taking money out of my own account,” Mr. Coogler told police.

“This situation should never have happened,” Mr. Coogler said in a statement to The New York Times, but he added that Bank of America “worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.”