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A would-be Palisades Park bank robber from the Bronx was foiled by a composed teller, his own hastiness and forensic science, authorities said on Tuesday, June 20.
Daqwaun D. Ralls, a 30-year-old self-employed DJ known as "DJ SonDae," already had a criminal past when he walked into the Shinhan Bank America branch on Broad Avenue on May 31.
According to Palisades Park Police Lt. George Beck, Ralls handed the teller a note that said: "No dye packs."
It also came with a warning that Ralls had gasoline in a bottle, along with a lighter and “a gun on my waist,” the lieutenant said.
But that wasn’t all.
The note also instructed the teller to “stay calm” while giving him $5,000 quickly and smoothly -- with no sudden movements -- and no one would be harmed, Beck added.
The teller was smooth, all right. She immediately emailed the bank manager, who the lieutenant said was approaching when Ralls got spooked and bolted out the door empty-handed (Story continues below).
Ralls had a piece of fabric in his hand that he’d used as a makeshift glove when he first walked in, Beck said. He was in such a rush to leave, however, that he neglected to use it when he opened the door on the way out, the lieutenant said.
Borough detectives asked the Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification to lift a partial print after watching surveillance video of the hasty exit.
The detectives then began working closely with their colleagues from the FBI.
Together, they captured Ralls without incident in the Bronx on Tuesday, June 20. He was booked into the Bergen County Jail and remained held there on a first-degree robbery charge.
Ralls already had a criminal history, not to mention a bit of notoriety.
In 2019, he was charged with boosting $50,000 worth of high-end sneakers from the GOAT warehouse on County Road in Secaucus.
Town police at the time said they cornered Ralls in a stairwell holding a large knife while committing the fourth in a series of burglaries at the plant, where they said he’d previously worked.
It all made Ralls a cult hero, of sorts, in the Bronx.
A documentary was even made about him: “Robinhood of Sneaker Goods” (YouTube)
Ralls also ran a GoFundMe campaign earlier this year -- raising more than $12,500 -- to help a popular Bronx bomber move to another shop.
SEE: New “Supreme Clientele Barbershop” Location (GoFundMe)
Beck praised the work of his department’s detectives following Tuesday’s arrest.
He also expressed appreciation and gratitude for the “highly professional” work of the sheriff’s forensic investigators, the “huge assistance” of the FBI and the “valuable” support from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
“That kind of help is big,” Beck said.
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