Pittsburgh man who tried robbing South Side bank in wheelchair gets nearly 4 years in prison

A Pittsburgh man will spend more than four years behind bars for posing as a customer using a wheelchair at a South Side bank and handing a note to the teller threatening to kill everyone inside with a bomb he claimed was strapped to his chest, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Emmanuel Luna, 56 — who fled the bank before getting any money once the teller began to cry — told the court through his attorney that it was a “really stupid crime” and “inconceivable” that he could get away with it, Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman said. He was convicted of one count of attempted bank robbery.

The incident happened about 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 13, 2019.

Luna, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, glasses and a black hat, entered First National Bank on East Carson Street and gave the bank employee a piece of paper. The note read, “I have a bomb if you don’t want to die you will give and it is in my backpack I will press the button and kill us all for no less than $50,000 dollars please try me.”

The employee activated the bank’s alarm and phoned her manager.

The teller then began to cry, prompting Luna to wheel himself to the front of the bank and leave, court records show.

He ditched the wheelchair around the corner and walked onto a Port Authority of Allegheny County bus near 12th and East Carson streets, according to surveillance video from the bank and the bus. Investigators with Pittsburgh police and the FBI who responded to the bank’s alarm recovered a fingerprint on the wheelchair that matched Luna’s.

Senior U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed Luna’s 46-month prison sentence, noting that it reflects what he did being a “very serious” offense and what a “terrible situation” Luna created by making people believe he had a bomb.

The judge said she gave him a prison term on the low end of federal sentencing guidelines but added the maximum time for probation — “taking into account the need to protect the community from Mr. Luna and ensure that he receives the services he needs to become a productive member of society upon release.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca L. Silinski prosecuted the case with help from the FBI and Pittsburgh police.

The case was brought forward as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Justice Department initiative through which federal and local law enforcement officials collaborate to reduce violent crime.

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