By The New York Times
Federal agents have arrested a man they believe carried out 12 bank robberies in Brooklyn and Queens that began last November, the police said.
The suspect, Burchard Bertrand, 32, was arrested at 5:30 p.m. on Friday in Walton, N.Y., about 140 miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan, in Delaware County.
Mr. Bertrand, who also went by the names Sheldon Robinson and Slim, was arrested by a team of F.B.I. agents and state and local police officers, and is now in federal custody, according to the police.
The robber wore a dust mask and concealed a revolver under a red construction helmet, prompting the authorities to call him the hardhat bandit.
Last week, the police and the F.B.I. identified Mr. Bertrand as a suspect, appealing for the public’s help in catching him.
The first bank robbery was on Nov. 22, and the most recent was on May 8, the police said.
The police said that Mr. Bertrand did not fire any shots during the holdups.