So You Think You Can Rob a Bank

If there is such a thing as a classy way to rob a bank, we may be able to learn a little something from the man who ran out of the Harvard University Credit Union with an envelope full of cash Tuesday morning. The man allegedly marched into the bank only minutes before, seemingly unarmed, and presented the teller with a letter demanding cash.

Yep, that's right. A letter.

Was his getaway just as classy? Find out after the jump.

With an undisclosed amount of cash safely in his hand, the man allegedly hopped on a bus, hoping to get far from the Square. He didn't get very far. Cambridge police pulled the bus over in short order and arrested him.

Liz C. Bloom '12, who was at the bank just after the robber left, said that the teller who was counting her deposit suddenly stopped and ducked underneath the counter with another teller. (The duck and cover technique only keeps us safe from tornadoes, not bank robbers, silly.) Bloom was left puzzled and at the counter with her large sum of money splayed out in piles, the two tellers exchanged in whispers about what they should do next. Bloom did not know a robbery had occurred until she asked over the counter if everything was alright.

HUPD eventually came to the rescue by briefly closing the bank. Though no one could leave or enter the bank, tellers continued to make transactions for those customers still in the bank as well as new customers waiting outside. How? We're a bit puzzled by that too.

The University confirms that no one was hurt during the incident (not even by a paper cut from the letter). The bank reopened before 2 p.m.

Lesson learned: Write a letter the next time you need money. It works. Sort of.