A hapless bank robbery suspect made it less than a block from the scene of the crime yesterday after allegedly choosing a target just yards from a Boston Police district station, a Federal office building, and Suffolk Superior Court, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

CHRISTOPHER J. WASHBURN (D.O.B. 12/18/77), who gave a Quincy address at booking but told officers he was homeless, was arraigned today in Boston Municipal Court on charges of unarmed robbery, assault and battery on a public employee, and resisting arrest. Judge Michael Coyne imposed the $100,000 cash bail recommended by Assistant District Attorney Larry Bates.

Washburn allegedly handed a note reading “money no die pack” to a teller at the Citizen’s Bank at One Center Plaza yesterday afternoon at about 12:30 p.m. When the teller handed him cash, Washburn allegedly bolted from the lobby – right past a plainclothes Boston Police detective using the cash machine outside.

Acting on instinct, the detective followed the suspect left onto Somerset Street and down into a subterranean garage. Meanwhile, bank employees called 911 to report a robbery in progress and an officer nearby heard someone yelling, “Call the police!”

The plainclothes detective shouted that he was a police officer and ordered Washburn to stop. Washburn allegedly tossed his outer jacket and continued deeper into the garage to a set of elevators, where he is said to have threatened to stab the detective if he came any closer. The suspect tried to flee in the elevator but the detective placed his foot inside its door, preventing it from closing.

Washburn allegedly fled back out of the elevator and toward Somerset Street, where he briefly engaged the detective in a physical altercation. Officers and detectives from the nearby District A-1 station were on the scene to assist within seconds, as were Federal Protective Service officers from the John F. Kennedy Federal Building across the street and members of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, who had just left the adjacent courthouse.

Officers recovered about $200 in cash on the ground, where Washburn had apparently tried to discard it, and about $1000 from his right front pants pocket. The total amount recovered matched exactly the amount reported taken during the stick-up.

Washburn was represented by Michael Roitman. He will return to court on March 8.