"We deeply remorse that this incident occurred. It by no means ought to have occurred and now we have apologized to Mr. Coogler," Financial institution of America informed The Hollywood Reporter in an announcement concerning the January incident in Atlanta.
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was mistaken for a financial institution robber at an Atlanta department of Financial institution of America and was briefly handcuffed earlier than native cops realized he was “by no means within the incorrect.”
The Atlanta police division admitted that Coogler’s detention was a case of mistaken identification, and Financial institution of America mentioned it had apologized to the Hollywood director. Coogler, in flip, has accepted that apology. “This example ought to by no means have occurred. Nevertheless, Financial institution of America labored with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and now we have moved on,” Coogler mentioned in an announcement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
An Atlanta police report additionally obtained by THR recounts how, on Jan. 7, 2022, Coogler and two associates parked outdoors the financial institution in a operating automobile had been briefly detained by officers known as to the scene. That decision was prompted by Coogler having innocently given a feminine financial institution teller a “withdrawn slip with notice written on the again of the withdrawn slip to be discreet when handing him the money.”
The report provides Coogler, who had a California State identification license and a Financial institution of America account card in hand, requested for greater than $10,000.
“The financial institution teller then obtained an alert notification from Mr. Coogler’s account and shortly suggested her supervisor that suspect # 3 [Coogler] is trying to rob the financial institution. 911 was alerted and responded,” the police report states. As police items arrived on the scene, they found a black Lexus SUV outdoors the financial institution with its engine operating and two passengers, a lady and a person, seated inside.
The duo informed the cops that they had been ready for Coogler, “who's making a cash transaction inside the financial institution and he's a film producer.” However once they had been requested for an outline of Coogler, and what he was sporting, it “matched the outline of the male suspect that's trying to rob the Financial institution Of America,” and the officers positioned each automobile passengers behind a Metropolis of Atlanta-marked patrol car, with out handcuffing them.
The police incident report additionally describes Coogler, who by then was thought-about a suspect, being taken out of the financial institution by two officers in handcuffs. However because the investigation continued, the attending officers concluded Coogler had been mistaken for a financial institution robber.
“It was decided later by Sgt. Fernandez that the incident is a mistake by Financial institution Of America and that Mr. Coogler was by no means within the incorrect and was instantly taken out of handcuff and that suspects # 1 and # 2 was [sic] taken out from the rear of the patrol car,” the report reads.
“Mr. Coogler, in addition to suspect # 1 and # 2, was given a proof of the incident in addition to an apology for the error by the Financial institution Of America. Mr. Coogler requested the title in addition to the badge quantity for all of the officers on scene,” the report provides.
Financial institution of America, in an announcement obtained by THR, mentioned: “We deeply remorse that this incident occurred. It by no means ought to have occurred and now we have apologized to Mr. Coogler.”