Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was detained by police earlier this year when they mistook him for a bank robber, a police report has revealed.
The report, obtained by CNN, says Coogler was put in handcuffs on Jan. 7 after he approached a teller at a Bank of America branch in Atlanta and slipped her a note asking for a large sum of money to be discreetly withdrawn from his personal account.
The teller reportedly told her manager that she thought the bank was being robbed.
According to the Atlanta Police Department report, Coogler entered the bank branch wearing a COVID-19 face mask, a hat and a pair of sunglasses.
When he approached the counter, he slid a note to the teller that 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.”
The New York Times reported that Coogler told police he was paying for a medical assistant who worked for his family who preferred to be paid in cash, hence the large amount.
The teller, who is Black, as is Coogler, was pregnant and worried about her safety at the time, according to the newspaper.
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“This situation should never have happened. However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on,” Coogler said in a statement to ET Canada.
Atlanta Police has since released bodycam footage of what transpired, showing the officers approaching Coogler inside the bank.
One officer unholsters his gun before putting Coogler in handcuffs.
“Whoa whoa, what’s going on?” the filmmaker asks.
The director, who has been working on a Black Panther sequel, was released a short time later after he proved his identity.
A Bank of America spokesperson told ET Canada: “We deeply regret that this incident occurred. It never should have happened and we have apologized to Mr. Coogler.”
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