Paper bandit strikes again

An Israeli man robbed a bank Monday and made off with several thousand shekels despite being apparently armed with nothing more than a piece of paper.

The villain, who wore a baseball cap and sunglasses, approached a cashier in a branch of the Yahav Bank in Kiryat Bialik and handed her a note declaring that he was holding up the bank and that she should give him a few thousand shekels, which he needed to buy medication.The cashier obliged and the man made off on foot with the loot.

Police believe the writing robber is responsible for 10 similar hold-ups in recent months, in the north and coastal areas, Ynet reported.

In all but one case the as-yet-unidentified man was successful despite the fact that he carried only a piece of paper. During one attempted robbery in Binyamina the cashier refused to hand over the money and the criminal penman made off empty-handed. Police said that there were no fingerprints on the notes and they are still searching for the perpetrator.

A police source told Ynet that since a deadly encounter in May when a man went on a shooting rampage in a Beersheba bank that left four people dead, jittery bank employees are quick to hand over money when confronted with the threat of robbery.