Short arm of law foils bank heist

Simone Weichselbaum
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU

Friday, March 27th 2009, 4:00 AM

A would-be robber was so focused on passing a note to a teller at a Bronx bank Thursday that he missed the cops standing behind him.

"How did you get here so fast?" whined the man as cops nabbed him during his attempted lunchtime heist in Fordham, police said.

The not-so-savvy hood, Mark Mcnulty, was too busy slipping an HSBC teller a note demanding cash to notice the two cops closing in on him, police said.

"He was surprised," said Officer Michael Gonzalez. "He was so focused on doing what he was doing."

Mcnulty, 55, packed a pellet gun in his coat pocket, but no one was hurt during the attempted robbery on East Fordham Road, police said.

Charges against him were pending Thursday night.

Mcnulty started his day intent on knocking off a bank, cops said.

He first tried to hold up the Chase Bank on Kingsbridge Road about 11:45 a.m., police said, but left with no cash.

Chase workers gave cops a description of Mcnulty, prompting Gonzalez and his colleagues - Officers John Kennedy, Richard Evans, George Billaverde and Sgt. Mark Pedevillano - to comb the neighborhood.

By chance, Gonzalez and Billaverde walked into the HSBC and spotted Mcnulty waiting on line.

"I was surprised to see him there," said Billaverde. The shaken teller "was in tears," he said.

Seconds later, Mcnulty was in handcuffs and bank customers applauded the officers.

"We happened to be in the right place at the right time," Gonzalez said.