The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A New Orleans police officer making a security check on a downtown bank walked in just as a robber was walking out, police said Wednesday.
Officer Jeffrey Keating stepped into the Regions Bank on St. Charles Avenue just before 2 p.m. in the Central Business District and made eye-contact with the suspect, according to a police news release.
A teller immediately told Keating that she had been robbed by the man who had passed the officer on his way out.
The suspect jumped into an escape car with a Florida license plate and drove off. Keating, chasing on foot, radioed for help. Other officers pursued in cars until the suspect jumped out at an intersection, dropping stolen money on the ground and running.
Police caught up with him a short time later.
The suspect was identified as Kristen A. Williams, 31, of New Orleans. A pistol believed to have been used in the robbery was recovered.
Keating had been making a series of checks on banks in the area because of a series of bank robberies in the downtown and French Quarter areas.
Police said Williams was cooperating with authorities. The case was turned over to the FBI and charges had not been released Wednesday evening.