Second Teen Bank Robber Nabbed
BY LIZ GOFF

An Astoria teenager sought for questioning in connection with a January 5 bank robbery involving a 16-year-old girl was arrested last week in another bank heist, police said. John McCormick, 18, walked into a Bank of America branch in Flushing on January 2 and handed a teller a note demanding cash. McCormick said he had a 9mm handgun and tear gas he intended to use, and walked off with $1,960 in the Flushing robbery.

Chrystie Almestica, the teen charged with robbing an Astoria branch of First Central Savings Bank of $3,090 on January 5, recently pointed a finger at McCormick as one of two men who forced her at knifepoint to rob the bank, police said.

Prosecutors charge that during her January 5 crime spree, Almestica initially attempted to rob a branch of Commerce Bank on 31st Street and Ditmars Boulevard but fled after fearing that bank personnel had called police. She then headed to a First Central Savings Bank branch on Ditmars Boulevard, where she handed a teller a note that read, in part, "I have a gun and tear gas…give me the money," court records state.

Law enforcement sources said while there might be similarities in the notes passed to tellers by McCormick and Almestica, it is not yet clear what the relationship was between the teenagers.

"These are separate incidents," the sources said. "Investigators are interested in questioning Mr. McCormick and are working to determine if, and how the two teens knew each other. This certainly does not prove that anyone forced anyone else to do anything."

McCormick was charged last week with bank robbery at his arraignment at Queens Criminal Court. Almestica remains free on $5,000 bail in the January 5 crimes.

Meanwhile, classmates of Almestica at Long Island City's prestigious Academy of American Studies said they are shocked by her actions, and skeptical of her claims that she was coerced into committing the crimes.

Teachers and administrators at the school refused comment.