Robbery at Queens County Savings Bank

A Queens County Savings Bank branch at Little Neck Plaza was the scene of a mid-day robbery Thursday involving an unknown amount of cash, police said.

Detectives from the 111th Precinct, along with the New York Police Department's Major Case Squad, put the bank on lock-down through the early afternoon as they investigated the robbery.

Business owners and shoppers in Little Neck Plaza said police briefly closed off Little Neck Plaza's normally-packed parking lot as they searched for the suspect.

"I saw many cops coming around noon," said an employee at one of the stores at the plaza, who did not want to be identified. "I knew something was up."

The same source said the bank branch had been the scene of a similar robbery less than two years ago.

The Queens County Savings Bank is one of two in Little Neck, with another branch located on Northern Boulevard.

Founded in 1859 in Flushing, the savings-and-loan is the forbearer of New York Community Bank, with 32 branches across the borough.