Director Ryan Coogler was briefly arrested and placed in handcuffs at a Bank of America in Atlanta after being mistaken for a bank robber according to an Atlanta police report.
The “Black Panther” director was detained for a short period of time after attempting to make a transaction at Bank of America on January 7. Coogler donned a hat, sunglasses, and a face mask as he handed the BOA bank teller a withdrawal slip. On the back of the slip read a note that stated, “would like to withdraw $12,000 cash from my checking account. Please do the money count somewhere else. I’d like to be discreet.”
The teller mistook Coogler’s act— and the fact that his withdrawal request was over $10,000—as an attempted robbery situation, which then triggered an alert on his account. She then informed her boss of the situation and the two quickly called the police.
When Atlanta police officers arrived, two of the director’s colleagues were detained as they waited for Coogler outside of the bank. Coogler was also detained and placed in handcuffs. The Oscar-nominated director confirmed the incident in a statement with “Variety”.
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“This situation should never have happened,” Coogler said. “However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.”
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