Paulie strolled into the bar and ordered a Budweiser draft. Alfredo the bartender poured the drink and shoved a bowl of peanuts toward his newest customer.

Alfredo later told police the guy was "quiet and kind of pensive until you cops came in — then his face turned pale." That’s how the barkeeper described the man police gathered up a few minutes after he arrived at the bar.

Bank tellers gave police a description of the guy who robbed them. "A blue jacket and white jeans," they said. A man on the street saw the suspect enter Alfredo’s Bar.

Paulie also had a white plastic bag tucked into his belt. One cop told another, "The money’s in here." They took the bag without counting the cash.

Two uniformed cops held Paulie outside the bar while a detective patted him down for weapons. There was nothing, not even a wallet. Detective Sergeant Mike asked the suspect some questions, but the guy hung his head and never spoke a word.

Police walked him down the row of stores along the strip shopping center to the Bank of America. The bank was now closed and there were two uniformed cops blocking the front entrance.

The detective took the handcuffed suspect inside the bank. The moment the two men stepped inside, a young blonde teller, pointing at Paulie, blurted out, "Oh my God, that’s him — that’s the guy that robbed us!" Other tellers followed saying, nearly in unison, "That’s him — that’s him."

Instantly, the detective spun the suspect around and headed back outside. He escorted Paulie to a patrol car parked near the bank’s entrance, opened the rear door and held onto the cuffs as the suspect crawled into the back seat.

"They call me Paulie." That’s all the suspect would say. He would neither admit to any of the facts of the case nor deny his involvement. Police took his prints and a mug shot, but identification usually takes some time with nothing more than fingerprints to go by.

You have to wonder: "Why did he stop for a beer so close to the bank he’d just robbed?"

Paulie isn’t saying.