Rookie NYPD cop busted in $113G Pennsylvania bank heist

[Trainspotter]

Rookie NYPD cop busted in $113G Pennsylvania bank heist

An NYPD rookie sworn to enforce the law broke it big-time Thursday, stealing $113,000 from a Pennsylvania bank at gunpoint, authorities said.

 

Cop-turned-robber Christian Torres, 21, of Queens, was collared less than a block away and the loot was recovered, police said.

 

"I can't believe it happened," said Chris Salcedo, 20, a neighbor who plays football with Torres every week. "He talked a lot about being a cop. He said he wanted to do good stuff for people."

 

Full story: - April 11, 2008

[metsfan]

Seattle can have this one.

 

- Andy

[Locomotion69]

He is looking at a 20 yr federal prison term max since he was armed with a gun. Since this is his 1st offense and that he is an ex-police officer I doubt it that he would serve more than 10 yrs.

[4 Train]

Do anyone think he was desperate??

[Coolbreezing]

The starting salary for police officers, should be more than $25000.00 a year. They can hardly do anything with that, specially if their have to pay rent, gas and electricity bills. Inflation increase but their pay scale remain the same. That $25000.00 can no longer pay the bills. Their Starting salary should also increase to compensate for inflation. I am not trying to justified his reason for robbing the bank but one must also understand that time is rough for those guys. Their have a gun, a badge plus financial difficulties and you expect them to be a good cop. This person had good intention before joining the force, it wasn't until he became an officer that he sees the opportunity to rob a bank. Why didn't he thought of it prior joining the force. Is it possible that he could have gotten corrupted after joining the force and if that's the case why? These are the questions we should asked ourselves.

 

The incentive for all corruption is the need for financial freedom, greed and power. The need to liberate one selves from financial difficulties is very well possible under all circumstances if the opportunity exist. While the act of robbing a bank may be unjustified, his reason is purely base on the theory of survival of the fittest. You wouldn't throw a piece of meet in front of an hungry lion an command the lion to eat it ... would you? To expect the lion not to eat it would be illogical right? Then why are we given a financially unstable person a gun and a badge and expect him to be a good cop. Doesn't a good cap start from being a happy person? How can we expect him to be happy if his financially stress out all the time. What kind of logic is that ....you tell me.

[Locomotion69]

I am tired of hearing about their starting pay. Nobody forces them to become cops. There are many people who earn less than that in NYC and they dont go around robbing banks. The NYPD is a joke. A couple of weeks ago I was standing by a fire hydrant,key in the ignition,a cop taps on my window and says with a deep Russian accent.."You cannot park by a fire hydrant"....you have to move your car..I was inside my car,I wasn't parked. So I drove off even though I wasn't doing anything wrong. I didn't want to embarass this rookie cop in front of his partner. What are they teaching at the police academy?

 

Coolbreezing,you said it best. It is all about greed,this rookie cop is a suspect in a couple of other bank robberies in Manhattan. He had bought a $23,000 car,put down $18,000 on it. So yeah we all know now where that money came from. Good luck on the bus operator exam next Saturday.

[EASF]

yeah i agree with you guys. its true for both side. nobody force them to become a cop. so thats their choice, and they know before joining, what they're going to get pay.

 

Coolbreezing

The starting salary for police officers, should be more than $25000.00 a year. They can hardly do anything with that, specially if their have to pay rent, gas and electricity bills. Inflation increase but their pay scale remain the same.

 

you are right man. the salary that they have its not enough to cover all teh expenses in N.Y.C. i think everyone agrees that they should be pay more.

[TransitGuy]

I am tired of hearing about their starting pay. Nobody forces them to become cops. There are many people who earn less than that in NYC and they dont go around robbing banks. The NYPD is a joke. A couple of weeks ago I was standing by a fire hydrant,key in the ignition,a cop taps on my window and says with a deep Russian accent.."You cannot park by a fire hydrant"....you have to move your car..I was inside my car,I wasn't parked. So I drove off even though I wasn't doing anything wrong. I didn't want to embarass this rookie cop in front of his partner. What are they teaching at the police academy?

 

Coolbreezing,you said it best. It is all about greed,this rookie cop is a suspect in a couple of other bank robberies in Manhattan. He had bought a $23,000 car,put down $18,000 on it. So yeah we all know now where that money came from. Good luck on the bus operator exam next Saturday.

 

I agree completely. I had a similar story but no hydrant and no Russian accent.

[Robert Bosco]

no joke....Torres and I were cadets together, we started at the same time in 2005. We were also classmates in John Jay for one class, sat right next to each other....Last month I was visiting my mother in Brooklyn...and I saw him on patrol on the ...we talked for a second...it was great to see him in uniform..he had wanted to be a cop for a while...for the time i've known him, never saw this coming....who could?

[Coolbreezing]

I am tired of hearing about their starting pay. Nobody forces them to become cops. There are many people who earn less than that in NYC and they dont go around robbing banks. The NYPD is a joke. A couple of weeks ago I was standing by a fire hydrant,key in the ignition,a cop taps on my window and says with a deep Russian accent.."You cannot park by a fire hydrant"....you have to move your car..I was inside my car,I wasn't parked. So I drove off even though I wasn't doing anything wrong. I didn't want to embarass this rookie cop in front of his partner. What are they teaching at the police academy?

 

Coolbreezing,you said it best. It is all about greed,this rookie cop is a suspect in a couple of other bank robberies in Manhattan. He had bought a $23,000 car,put down $18,000 on it. So yeah we all know now where that money came from. Good luck on the bus operator exam next Saturday.

 

SIXTY NINE you're a good guy but you should not allow your vision to be clouded from the truth. Don't let your confrontation with the police take controlled of your self. I too have been harass by the caps in numerous occasions but yet I don't let it bother me to the point where I take sides. If he had felons prior to entering the force like most of these caps do than the question we should asked is to what degree of felony is the NYPD allow to turn down candidates for the academy. They should be some type of limitation otherwise the public is at risk. Regardless of this officers record, I still think financial difficulties have something to do with police behaviors in general.

 

While no one forces them to take the job, circumstances of life do. For some of these guys, it is the only thing that they can do. The only chance they have in life to maintained. What you should consider, is not the fact that no one forces them to take the job but more importantly why has their pay not improved while inflation continue to increase. The starting salary should increase over time to compensate for inflation. Let me remind you that inflation eats away your money. A $20.00 today is not a $20.00 yesterday, pathetically speaking that is .....but you'll the point.

 

Let me give you an example. After slavery was abolished around 1865 until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Slaves were known as indentured servant. They were no longer working for free but now they had to find a place to stay, they had to pay for their health care. No one asked them to take those low rages jobs but circumstances of life did. They couldn't make it with what they were getting paid but had no choice but to accept it. It wasn't until the organization of the Union that both whites and blacks began to get their fair share. Even whites were not getting what they deserved because blacks were getting too little of their fair share in relation to whites. This was the reason that both blacks & whites organized to form the Union. Because they had now realized that they were both getting fu_ked by the same people.

 

The moral of the story is as Dr. King stated: "In injustice to one is an injustice to all". Low Income has a relationship with violent behaviors which may derived from envy and economic starvation. Anyhow, If agencies such as NYPD, SANITATION, DOT & POSTAL WORKERS have an issue with they rages so is the MTA workers. While it may be them today tomorrow it will be us.

[East New York]

I am tired of hearing about their starting pay. Nobody forces them to become cops. There are many people who earn less than that in NYC and they dont go around robbing banks. The NYPD is a joke. A couple of weeks ago I was standing by a fire hydrant,key in the ignition,a cop taps on my window and says with a deep Russian accent.."You cannot park by a fire hydrant"....you have to move your car..I was inside my car,I wasn't parked. So I drove off even though I wasn't doing anything wrong. I didn't want to embarass this rookie cop in front of his partner. What are they teaching at the police academy?

 

Coolbreezing,you said it best. It is all about greed,this rookie cop is a suspect in a couple of other bank robberies in Manhattan. He had bought a $23,000 car,put down $18,000 on it. So yeah we all know now where that money came from. Good luck on the bus operator exam next Saturday.

 

Hello!! If 25K isin't enough, then they need to go into another line of work.

[metsfan]

Hello!! If 25K isin't enough, then they need to go into another line of work.

 

I think the people who protect us should be paid a living wage, not an unrealistic relic of a salary.

 

- Andy

[Coolbreezing]

Hello!! If 25K isin't enough, then they need to go into another line of work.

 

Not every one has a clean record like you ENY. Some job don't take felons which means that their options are limited.

[East New York]

Not every one has a clean record like you ENY. Some job don't take felons which means that their options are limited.

 

But if they have the option of being a police officer, they obviously have a clean record!

[Coolbreezing]

I suspect that you might be pulling my legs so I'm going to ignore this one. From our prior conversation, I know you're not that stupid.

[Locomotion69]

Coolbreezing,my man. Look at what this ex cop bought with the money that he robbed at the banks. A new car,an engagement ring,etc......He wasn't starving,he didn't go to the supermarket to buy food after he robbed the banks..a lot of people earn less than him and yet don't go around robbing banks.

 

At first I thought he had a drug problem,most criminals are druggies. But as more information came out that wasn't the case. To me going to jail for a very long time is more than eneough of a deterrent to not go robbing banks. I would rather starve then deal drugs,mug elderly women,etc. He choose to do what he did,I am sure he planned for it long and hard,now he has to live with the consequences.

[Coolbreezing]

Coolbreezing,my man. Look at what this ex cop bought with the money that he robbed at the banks. A new car,an engagement ring,etc......He wasn't starving,he didn't go to the supermarket to buy food after he robbed the banks..a lot of people earn less than him and yet don't go around robbing banks.

 

At first I thought he had a drug problem,most criminals are druggies. But as more information came out that wasn't the case. To me going to jail for a very long time is more than eneough of a deterrent to not go robbing banks. I would rather starve then deal drugs,mug elderly women,etc. He choose to do what he did,I am sure he planned for it long and hard,now he has to live with the consequences.

 

If his not in drugs then it must have been peer pressure ....he seems kind of young. He probably bought those things to show up to his friends that he got it. Kids now days watch too much TV. Parents should have the option to control what their kids are watching. It's ridiculous the way they think now days. Look it BET it's totally a wast of time now. VH1 is even worst ...all they do is make black people look bad ....look it favor flav. I honestly don't know any black person who looks like that or behave that way. Why do they do that to us.