Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was detained by police after he was mistaken for a bank robber
"This situation should never have happened," says the filmmaker in a statement
Aux News Ryan Coogler
Ryan Coogler, who’s currently directing Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, was detained by police in Atlanta earlier this year after he was mistakenly thought to be robbing a Bank Of America.
This was first reported by TMZ on March 9, but the situation reportedly occurred back in January. In a police report obtained by the tabloid, it’s detailed that Coogler attempted to make a hefty transaction at the bank. Instead of speaking to the teller and letting her know how much money he wanted to withdraw, he slipped her a note that read, “I would like to withdraw $12,000 cash from my checking account. Please do the money count somewhere else. I’d like to be discreet.”
It’s a reasonable request from a rich and famous filmmaker who’s currentlly working on Marvel Studio’s most-anticipated film of the year. But the teller mistakenly thought it was a robbery when the amount of the transaction reportedly triggered a bank system alert (the police reports note the woman is Black, but her identity has not been confirmed yet). She alerted her boss, telling them that she believed Coogler was attempting to rob the bank, and they called 911.
TMZ also reports that when the police arrived at the scene, they detained two people who were waiting for Coogler outside in an SUV, and then arrested Coogler. Coogler was let go as soon as the cops realized who he was.
In a statement to Variety, a spokesperson from Bank Of America says, “We deeply regret that this incident occurred. It never should have happened and we have apologized to Mr. Coogler.”
Coogler also gave a statement to both TMZ and Variety, saying, “This situation should never have happened. However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.”
102 Comments
Ehhhhh non-story. He handed the lady a note. He should have just asked her quietly and requested the exact same thing (counting elsewhere). Bank tellers are not exactly smashing atoms in their off hours, so I doubt this is malicious, just a dumb misunderstanding.
I worked have called ahead and asked what their procedure is for withdrawing large amounts of cash. I know banks are supposed to let the IRS know when someone withdraws 10K or more, so I would at least want to know ahead of time if there’s any paperwork I have to fill out, too.
They only notify the IRS when over 10k is deposited in person. A large withdrawal is between the client and the bank.
I see.I still would call if I plan on walking out of there with anything more than a grand, because that just seems like a lot. And passing a note to the teller without saying anything is kind of like getting to the TSA checkpoint at the airport, pulling your .45 out of your waistband, and asking where you can put it. It just doesn’t seem like the best idea.
“And passing a note to the teller without saying anything is kind of like getting to the TSA checkpoint at the airport, pulling your .45 out of your waistband, and asking where you can put it. It just doesn’t seem like the best idea.” Do you live in Bonkerstown, USA? You expect deaf people to just walk up and start tryna yell at the teller? People are allowed to communicate with others in ways that make them feel comfortable.
I do, in fact, live in Bonkerstown.
It’s not the IRS that would be involved in this case, it’s the Treasury Department and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
It may be now as he said it was for wages. He had better filled out a W2 for her and also paid FICA and Medicare.
You would be mistaken. The Bank Secrecy Act requires “cash transactions exceeding $10,000″ to be reported. Regardless, this is a form to be filled out, and in no way involves calling the police.
i dunno i think it’s fairly interesting when a famous director gets accidentally detained by police.
Fair, and not saying that it’s not uninteresting, it’s just a standard misunderstanding that was resolved perfectly fine.
I often get wrongly arrested, detained, and accused of robbing banks when I attempt a withdrawal from the account I keep in said bank. oh wait no I don’t, for several reasons:1. i don’t have 12k to take out2. I speak to people and don’t hand notes to bank tellers when I could speak to them3. I’m a different shade than Mr. Coogler (mine is the color of this background here)which of these SHOULD NOT have anything to do with my being detained and falsely arrested? Hint: It’s got nothing to do with my money.
“Standard.” Riiiiiggghhhhhtttttt.
lol I literally live for karen videos and am a huge supporter of criminal justice reform, as well as the defunding of the police. I don’t see this situation, where a black employee reacted to a strange situation in a manner she was probably instructed or trained to do. Since nothing came of it, and Coogler himself said the matter was resolved, I don’t see this as any of the number of examples we have seen lately.
I think it’s interesting that you think Ryan Coogler is famous.Pro tip: HE ISN’T FAMOUS.
Coogler is “famous” I guess in the sense that he has directed massive movies, but hardly someone you’d recognize on sight, especially outside of Hollywood/L.A. Like, aside from Spielberg or Tarantino, I bet there are very few directors whom the average bank customer could recognize.
I mean I know who Ryan Coogler is, but doubt I’d place him immediately if he walked up to me at work.
I really want to assume that along with the note he a included a withdrawal slip with his account info and his ID. Otherwise I see why the clerk panicked.
Instead of speaking to the teller and letting her know how much money he wanted to withdraw, he slipped her a note that read, “I would like to withdraw $12,000 cash from my checking account. Please do the money count somewhere else. I’d like to be discreet.”It’s a reasonable request from a rich and famous filmmaker who’s currentlly [sic] working on Marvel Studio’s most-anticipated film of the year. I think it’s ridiculous the teller went to her boss and said that Ryan Coogler was trying to rob them, but uh… is that a reasonable request? I don’t know how rich people are supposed to withdraw $12,000 in cash, but I always thought the associates with their own desks are the ones who are supposed to handle those kinds of requests precisely because, you know, most people don’t get that kind of money from the teller.
My thoughts exactly. I’m in no position to ever have to do something like withdrawing $12K in cash, but going to the teller with a note just feels like a terrible approach, especially if you’re in a rush. Someone rich tell me different, please. The question is would the teller have made the same assumption that this was a bank robbery had Coogler been white.
Yeah, I want to stress that I’m not blaming Coogler for doing what he did. Maybe he didn’t know how to get $12K in cash either! I just found calling it a “reasonable request” odd.
Understood. Maybe there was no line? If I were him and there was even one person ahead of me and I’d have to wait and I’m in a rush, I’d go straight to an associate because I’m Ryan Fuckin’ Coogler and Wakanda Forever and I’d like some customer service.
At my bank branches they only have associates available a few days a week by appointment. Last time I needed one it was a 3 day wait.
I’d say “reasonably misunderstanding all around” is a fair description. The teller is definitely trained to assume someone slipping them a note asking for money is a robbery.
It definitely wouldn’t have happened to this Kooglerhttps://community-sitcom.fandom.com/wiki/Preston_Koogler
I print it in my basement, but that’s just me.
I’ve withdrawn ~$20,000 from a teller before, although perhaps crucially, not in the US. It honestly didn’t even occur to me to be secretive about it. I was still concerned about carrying that much cash with me, because it represented most of my assets at the time, but to me it’s not rich people money. It’s like that joke from Dodgeball about $100,000 in a briefcaseAlthough on that note, while I know that idiots do rob banks, going through all the trouble for just $12,000 should really have been an indication that this was not a crime. I wonder if the teller was new, because it sounds like she only thought it was after the $10,000 limit was flagged by the computer. That limit is pretty well known even outside financial institutions, where it is regularly reviewed in compliance training. If he had been robbing her, he would have been sure to structure the transaction in separate $9990 increments to bypass the system.
“although perhaps crucially, not in the US”Look up civil forfeiture. I get why some people may have no choice except to transport cash but it’s outrageous police can in effect rob you this way. Best not to carry anything valuable (this can often include the car) in the US sometimes.“Although on that note, while I know that idiots do rob banks, going through all the trouble for just $12,000 should really have been an indication that this was not a crime.”Actually it’s not unheard of for robberies in the US including of banks to be of ridiculously low amount including ones less than this.https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stats-show-crime-doesnt-pay-most-robbers/(I know that’s UK data but I doubt it’d be hugely different in the US, I’ve certainly seen US news reports reporting totals of amounts stolen to be so low as to be frankly ludicrous.)
Sadly, the average bank robbery windfall is only about $6,500, according to the FBI.But I’m right with you in spirit. It’s a small sum for the risk.
As someone who has taken out large chunks of cash before, what he did was odd. Asking for a large amount of money via a note and not giving them your acct # and ID is going to raise a few red flags. At the very least he should have had a withdrawal slip filled out and handed over his ID as well. Most of the time you talk to a manager, especially if it is over $10,000 in cash. Banks are legally required to report any cash withdrawals over $10k under the Bank Secrecy Act. You usually have to fill out a paper saying you are not laundering money or doing other illicit stuff. So the teller sends you over to wait for the manager to take care of everything. While he shouldn’t have tried to make a large withdraw like that, the teller probably should have politely asked for his ID and account number while informing him there would be an additional form he is going to need to fill out.
I sold a car to a guy who wanted to pay cash. We went to his bank and he withdrew about this much cash, via a banker at a desk (not a teller). No one blinked. But he also walked up to the little book, signed his name, someone came over and asked for Mr. Carbuyer, asked what he needed, they filled out the paperwork, cash was handed over, off he went. If I was a teller and someone silently handed me a note asking for cash, my first reaction would probably be the same as this teller’s.
Yeah, not sure this is a race thing. If Tom Hiddleston had walked up with that note I 100% would have mashed the silent alarm because there is no way that handsome motherfucker with the perfect smile is not trying to rob my bank.
I mean, would she know who Ryan Coogler even is? Most people don’t know what directors of movies look like (with a few exceptions).
To me, that’s besides the point. “I would like to withdraw $12,000 from my checking account” – to me – is a pretty straightforward request that warrants a follow-up question, a la “May I have your name and/or checking account number?” or “You need to speak with one of our associates to fulfill this kind of request.” Maybe check it before going to your boss and saying, “I think this man is trying to rob our bank.” But I don’t work at a bank, so IDK.
I expect the teller just kind of freaked out.
Also, he doesn’t have everyday name recognition. The average person has heard of Scorcese or Coppola, even if they’ve never seen one of their movies. The average person probably has seen Black Panther (given the box office numbers), but probably couldn’t tell you the name of the director. It takes a real while for a director (even a successful and talented one) to become larger than their movies.
I think it’s a reasonable request, but it is a very weird way to go about it. The only people I ever see slipping notes to bank tellers (granted, mostly in pop culture) are bank robbers!But I’d imagine this is the kind of transaction that you’d talk to a client services rep or the bank manager for.
it’s pretty normal to give a teller a piece of paper if you’re getting change for a till, to keep track of how many rolls of what.
Right, a piece of paper that is a deposit slip. Not a hand written note.
Yeah, I guess the way he went about doing it has a lot to do with me questioning how “reasonable” it is. There’s nothing wrong with withdrawing $12K of your own money from an institution meant to hold your money, but asking that from the window teller via note seems less than reasonable to me.
The other thing to note about this – which someone mentioned further down this comments section – is that he was also wearing shades, a face-mask, a plain black beanie and a plain grey hoodie at the time (Check the TMZ pictures). Dude looks very much like he does not want to be recognised, which, given the context of the situation… yeah. Also, FWIW, the teller herself was described as a ‘pregnant black woman’ making the race angle less likely, if not impossible.
Overall, I would say No Assholes Here. Coogler wasn’t trying to do anything wrong, the teller was displaying a reasonable level of caution. The only thing that bothers me is that the article explicitly mentions the teller as being at fault, and that Coogler was pissed, which – combined with Coogler saying it’d been handled to his satisfaction – is kind of alarming. I hope she didn’t get fired over this.
I work for a Credit Union and never in a decade heard of a legitimate request for a transaction being submitted in the form of a silent note. That is entirely a bank robbery tactic.
Don’t those notes usually just say “give me $12,000″ or “you are being robbed”? Assuming this article is accurate, he requested a withdrawal from his account. Maybe a teller would ask for the account number before freaking out? IDK. I think it’s weird, but I also think Bank of America took it from 0 to 60 a smidgen too quickly.
It depends on how well-planned, or how mentally ill the person is. The last time I remember one of our branches being robbed via a silent note, the person was “smart” enough not write any obvious felony words on it.Of course, the entire concept of trying to rob a bank via note isn’t actually smart. It doesn’t work. They get the silent alarm button and are caught 100% of the time.
Im guessing he’s done it that way before with no issues? Ive never used a note before but I’ve withdrawn large amounts of cash before and always use the teller. There’s rarely a line.
Have you withdrawn over $10,000 before? I’m not trying to be confrontational; genuinely curious.
I’ve taken out large amounts of cash before.
What he did was
odd. Asking for a large amount of money via a note and not giving them
your acct # and ID is going to raise a few red flags. At the very least he should have had a withdrawal slip filled out and handed over his ID as well. Most
of the time you talk to a manager, especially if it is over $10,000 in
cash. Banks are legally required to report any cash withdrawals over
$10k under the Bank Secrecy Act. You usually have to fill out a paper
saying you are not laundering money or doing other illicit stuff. So the
teller sends you over to wait for the manager to take care of
everything.
Also a lot of banks have internal policies that require managers to sign off on any large transaction.
While he shouldn’t have tried to make a large withdraw like that, the teller probably should have politely asked for his ID and account number while informing him there would be an additional form he is going to need to fill out.I can get why a teller might have thought it was a robbery and panicked.
I feel like between being handed the note and telling the manager that they were being robbed, the teller could have asked for an ID and account number, but yes, I find Coogler’s decision to write his request in note form odd.
Having done a number of these transactions over time (reformed gambling addict here,) I think you’re pretty much right on. I will say that banks’ policies seem to vary widely on this. I normally would wait to see a banker at a desk for some measure of privacy, but in some cases they would just send me to the tellers anyway. And, yes, there’s always paperwork on $10k+ cash in the US from personal accounts, depositing or withdrawing. I know business accounts for cash businesses like bars are handled a bit differently, but that’s based on the business establishing that with the bank upfront.
No problem. I have and I used the teller. I’ve always had to sign something because the withdrawals are reported but it was never an issue going directly to a teller.Now, I did once close my account and needed the funds wired. In that case, I did meet with a bank associate in their office.
I wonder if she thought he was under duress? Slipping her a note, and security cameras showing people waiting outside, I don’t know, it’s just a thought.
I’d be curious, if that was her thought process how that translated to him getting arrested. Definitely a systemic failure there.
Wouldn’t be the first time cops were called and they arrested the black guy, even though that’s not what was intended. Like I said, just a thought, probably just overthinking it.
I mean, I have never and will never have reason to withdraw $12,000 in cash, but that seems like something you call ahead for.
Usually, it should go, ‘guy goes to a teller and says, ‘I have a large withdrawal to make today. Here is my account number and identification.’ Teller goes, ‘Yes, sir, if you can have a seat over there, xxxxxxx will be with you shortly.’
Fill out a withdrawal slip like a normal person. Put the cash-withdrawal amount on the slip and the account number. Have a photo ID ready. Or write a check for CASH. They count the money in front of the person to confirm to that person that the correct amount was given, not because the tellers are unable to count. Counting it elsewhere eliminates that.
The amount of people picking this apart. AV Club stays victim-blaming.
Next time you fly, slip the TSA worker a note that says “I am not carrying a bomb.” Perfectly reasonable to reassure the TSA of that fact. I won’t blame you for what happens, I promise. But if Coogler had asked me, I would have advised him not to do that.What is more interesting is his claim that a person he employs wanted cash. Which means now he’s likely to get an audit from the state and federal tax agents about withholding income taxes and/or Social Security for that person. Maybe he does, but now they are going to ask and want to check all his payments.
I like that you think these two things are remotely comparable. Maybe someday you’ll actually be able to see black people as human beings
CNN has this clarification:
Coogler had written a note on the back of his withdrawal slip stating that he wanted the money to be counted discreetly, given the amount, according to the report.
Ive withdrwan 15k in cas from my bank. I just filled out the withdraw slip with my ID and handed it to the teller. She had me wait over as they got 2 tellers to confirm the 15k and had me fill out a IRS form.Did he not hand his ID over and just walked up with a note telling her he wanted 12k and to be discreet?
It sounds like he wasn’t even using the actual withdrawal paper form, but a custom written note. Like…. a bank robber. Yes, real ones do that all the time.
Wouldn’t she have known he wasn’t robbing the bank when she looked up his account #?
This is a classic bank robbery tactic, to be handed a note silently requesting a withdrawal. It would TRIGGER the fuck out of your spidey senses.
Yeah, that’s the part I don’t get. Feels like the next step should have been: “Certainly, Sir. May I see your client card and ID?”How this got escalated directly to ‘robbery in progress’ is… mystifying.
Because bank tellers are trained not to risk escalating potential robberies. They are taught to do as the robber instructs and to try not to panic or let anyone know that a robbery is happening, because if other people panic, it could lead to people getting hurt.
Nothing in the note pointed toward a robbery though. From other reporting, the teller confirmed that she was dealing with Coogler and that he had sufficient funds in his account.It was the amount of the withdrawal that tripped some sort of alarm, which she told her manager, and that’s when the cops were called.
No… go read the TMZ story. He comes in, not only wearing a mask, but sunglasses and a cap as well. Completely obscuring his face.
He hands the teller a note with that doesn’t identify himself or have his account information written on it.
Where are you getting that the teller supposedly confirmed his identity beforehand?
From the part where the withdrawal amount trips an alarm, which would only happen after account details have been pulled up.[Edited to add quote/source]Coogler reportedly had a California I.D. and a Bank of America account card in hand when he made the request.The bank teller then received an alert notification from Coogler’s bank account, according to the police report. She proceeded to tell her manager that Coogler was attempting to rob the bank, and they called 911.https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/03/black-panther-director-ryan-coogler-falsely-accused-of-robbing-a-bank
Something is weird – bank accounts themselves don’t create alerts. Banks managing accounts do. So what did his bank “alert” on his account? My guess – his banking is normally in California, like his ID, and this is in Atlanta so the bank flagged it as an identity theft attempt. Were I to wager, he also made a few small withdrawals from ATMs, which is what ID thieves do to see if anyone is looking for them/have locked the account. I bet most other transactions are on a credit card or check rather than dealing with a bank teller. I didn’t get cops, but my credit card company did the alert thing to me when I drove about 700 miles. There were a couple of gas buys on the way, but then the card company declined me on guaranteeing a hotel room. I had to cough up account details from past transactions to confirm it really was me. They didn’t trust the hotel to look at the driver’s license and confirm that.
Yeah that would make a lot of sense. It probably wasn’t the amount in and of itself. I’ve had the same problem with large transactions while traveling, even after notifying my bank in advance.
Why would you need to withdraw 12,000 in cash anyway?
Maybe there are a disproportionate amount of BP2 cast and crew birthdays in March, and he wants to give them all birthday cards with $100 in them.
You can’t Venmo strippers. It’s for…film research.
LOL. You actually probably correct.
Why is it any of our business?
Why isn’t it?
Because we are not Ryan Coogler.
Why is ANY of this our business? Because he is famous, and we are not, and we need no additional reasons.
Gambling debts, for one thing.
Cocaine is a helluva drug!
None. Of. Your. Business. Chad.
Someone who needs $12,000 cash.
FROM BBC: The New York Times reported that he told police he was paying for a medical assistant who worked for his family and sought discretion over safety concerns due to the cash amount he requested. The teller, who is black, as is Mr Coogler, was pregnant and worried about her safety at the time, according to the newspaper. The transaction triggered an automatic notification as it was over $10,000…
Every time I roll into a bank and pass a note saying “I’d like to make a large withdrawal. Do it quietly.” with a big SUV waiting outside, it raises eyebrows.
Totally Coogler’s fault here… What normal person writes THAT type of note to a bank teller?! It’s kind of a fucked up idea and he goofed for sure.
This would’ve never happened if he had gone to Penn.
Oh boy, I love some passive voice apologies! Weird how things just sort of happen! Weird how no one ever does anything!
Lot of People giving Coogler shit for handing a letter But consider this in a city as big as Atlanta and in a bank as common as BoA would it really be so unthinkable that some of their clients who are deaf or have a speech impediment, or just bad Social Anxiety would use a letter to communicate? Also who robs a back without making a threat?
“Also who robs a back without making a threat?”Most robbers, you don’t need to make threats to get money.
That’s what actual withdrawl slips are for.
You know, up at the counter before you get in line for the teller?
I think people skip the withdrawal slips more often than not. If I’m not using the ATM, I always go up to the teller and they take my debit card and use that to look up my account number.
Not sure why it’s not mentioned in this article but the note was written on one of those slips.In the bit that says “Do not write in this area”! Not sure if that’s grounds for arrest but it would get my goat 🙂
Seems like a silly misunderstanding. Glad it was resolved to Mr. Coogler’s satisfaction.
For those of you who can’t hear through your hoods: It’s. His. Money. Next.
The answer to ‘Why did the rich man withdraw tons of cash’ is always: ‘To do rich people shit.’
You’re an extremely unintelligent person.
Much as I’d like to, you can’t blame the police for this one. They were told he was robbing the bank, they had to arrest him.Why would you need $12,000 cash in this day of credit cards and various apps? I agree with everyone that he should have called ahead, and also not have his bodyguards park the SUV in front. You’re not better than the rest of us, use a fucking parking space. Also I thought everyone knew that 10 grand is the magic number that triggers scrutiny.
He was detained, not arrested. He claimed it was per a request from his medical assistant. Snarky me would say “is that what a rich person’s dealer is called?” but that’s another layer of “why?” and I don’t know a way to peel that one. All in all it’s in that gray area – not nearly as bad as wearing a vest covered in (legal) road flares and loose wires into a bank, but a distance from just asking a manager to count it in an office.
For once, the cops didn’t fuck up here, huh. Thankfully.
Tellers make a kinda big deal of conspicuously counting out the cash in front of you.That way you can’t claim you got shorted.I don’t see them just handing somebody an envelope full of that much cash on the honor system. I can see where you wouldn’t want everybody in the bank to know you’re carrying $12K though.
Then again, I guess that’s pretty much what happens when they send you a tube with cash in the drive through. Those are much smaller transactions though. I don’t remember for sure. Haven’t made a withdrawal at a bank for years.
But how are we supposed to feel about it?!?