Ryan Coogler, director of the movie ‘Black Panther’, was earlier this year mistaken for a bank robber and briefly detained after trying to withdraw money from his bank account, it has emerged.
According to TMZ, the filmmaker was arrested by police in Atlanta after staffers of Bank of America mistakenly thought he was staging a robbery.
The incident was said to have happened on January 7, 2022.
According to the Atlanta police report, Coogler had walked into the banking hall wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a COVID-19 face mask.
The “Black Panther” director was in Atlanta, attempting to withdraw $12,000 from his account with Bank of America.
He handed the teller a withdrawal slip that had a note written on its back which reads;
I 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 received an alert on his account, according to the police report obtained by CNN, because the amount was more than $10,000.
The teller notified her superior that she thought Coogler was trying to rob the bank and 911 was called.
It is understood that, when the police arrived, they detained two people waiting outside for Coogler outside the bank in a car with the engine running.
They were also said to have then gone in and brought the movie director out in handcuffs.
After an investigation, Coogler was released shortly after police verified his identity.
The police described the development as “a huge mistake” and said the fault lies with the Bank of America employee who was described in the police report as a “pregnant black woman”.
Ryan Coogler told TMZ;
This situation should never have happened. However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.
The Bank of America has since apologised to the film director.
Coogler was in Georgia at the time of the incident, working on production of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the sequel to his 2018 blockbuster. The film is set for release in November.
Watch a video of incident below;
This is the 1st clip I’ve seen where we see Ryan Coogler say what happened.
❗️He asked teller “Is that ok?” & she said yes
❗️He put his own card in & punched in his PIN
‼️He gave her his IDNever heard of a robber doing that. But let’s call the cops. pic.twitter.com/A11VDxLJJ3
— POC Culture (@POCculture) March 10, 2022
