‘Black Panther’ Director Ryan Coogler Misidentified as Bank Robber, Handcuffed and Briefly Detained in Atlanta
Film director Ryan Coogler must have felt like he was playing a character in one of his movies.According to TMZ, the Creed and Black Panther director was briefly detained when he went to the bank to withdraw some cash. Bank employees assumed that he was committing a bank holdup when he handed a bank teller a handwritten note when submitting his withdrawal.LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 09: Director Ryan Coogler attends the ‘Black Panther’ BFI preview screening held at BFI Southbank on February 9, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
Employees at the Georgia bank erroneously thought Coogler was directing a robbery attempt, so they called the police on him. When the police arrived, he was briefly placed in handcuffs. Based on a police report from the Atlanta Police Department, Coogler was detained after making a stop at a bank in January.He handed the teller a withdrawal slip wearing shades and a face mask to adhere to COVID-19 mandates.On the withdrawal slip, he presented a written note on its back. The message read, “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.”Based on that, the bank teller got suspicious and alerted police as she assumed that a bank robbery was taking place in front of her.
When the police officers appeared at the bank, they detained two people waiting outside for Coogler in an SUV. They proceeded to head inside and ended up bringing the Fruitvale Station filmmaker out in handcuffs. After the police investigated, they stated it was all just a huge mistake. The Atlanta PD placed the blame on the bank teller. Based on the report, when the teller entered the transaction into her computer, it triggered an alert.The woman then told her superior that the Black Panther
director was trying to rob the bank, and they called 911.As Coogler did nothing wrong, he was subsequently released and reportedly asked for badge numbers of the police officers who answered the bank’s call.