#Suspect in string of NYC bank robberies busted

A convicted serial bank robber is back behind bars after allegedly pulling off a string of Big Apple heists — while still on parole for previous bank jobs, sources said Sunday.

Craig Gernett, 42, was released from prison in August after serving more than 10 years in prison for robbing four banks and 11 shops dating back to 2006, according to online court records.

He now faces fresh charges related to several heists across the five boroughs, police sources told The Post.

Gernett’s latest suspected robbery came around 11 a.m. Saturday when police said he walked into a TD Bank on Broadway in Washington Heights and demanded cash, making off with $759.

Cops said he allegedly pulled off other thefts on Friday, starting with another TD Bank branch on Lexington Avenue in Midtown shortly before 9 a.m., stealing $568.

Just after 3:30 p.m., he made off with $1,000 from a Chase Bank on 125th Street.

Police said Gernett allegedly tried to rob a third bank at 1:55 p.m. on West 117th Street in Harlem and handed the teller a note but ultimately fled without any cash.

He is also suspected in two Queens bank robberies earlier this month.

On May 11, police said he fled with $760 from a Chase Bank on Queens Plaza South and made off with $1,115 from a Citibank on Court Square on May 6.

In one heist, a teller in Queens allegedly told Gernett she couldn’t read his note.

“What, are you f—ing stupid?” he allegedly answered. “It’s a bank robbery.”

Gernett was arrested sometime Saturday or Sunday.

Brooklyn federal court records show Gernett was sentenced to more than nine years in prison in June 2006 after pleading guilty to 15 counts of bank robbery and robbery.

He did time at a federal lockup in Kentucky until 2012, when he was transferred to a Brooklyn halfway house to serve out his sentence.

But he went AWOL on July 24, 2014 — and robbed a McDonald’s four days later, the records show. He was rearrested and, in 2015, got hit with additional time until his release last year.

Ahead of his 2006 sentencing, Gernett’s lawyer said he suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder and drug addiction.

“It is obvious that Mr. Gernett’s drug addiction was the immediate cause for his crimes,” wrote Justine Harris. “Put simply, Mr. Gernett committed these robberies while on a crack binge … But underlying Mr. Gernett’s substance abuse problem — and, I submit, a cause of his addiction — is a serious mental illness.”

Harris could not be reached for comment and it’s unclear whether Gernett has retained a lawyer who could speak on his behalf in the newest case.