Alleged thief mistakes copy shop for a bank

Boston police are investigating whether a man who allegedly mistook a copy shop for a bank -- and then asked employees for directions to the nearest Fleet branch -- is the same man who allegedly robbed two banks yesterday.

Paul Michael Callahan, 32, of Roslindale, was arrested yesterday afternoon, drenched in red dye, about a half-hour after police say he robbed the Citizens Bank at Brigham Circle of more than $2,500 after handing a note to a teller.

The dye pack exploded as Callahan got into his green pickup truck around the corner from the bank. He was arrested a short time later at a Brookline gas station, where he had abandoned his vehicle after a tire went flat.

Callahan was arrested and charged with robbing the Citizens branch and police suspect he is the same person who robbed a Fleet branch on Longwood Avenue of less than $200 yesterday morning, about 40 minutes after the aborted robbery at the copy shop.

Police say that Callahan fits the description of a man who showed up at a Commonwealth Avenue copy shop just before 9 a.m. yesterday, wearing a light-colored shirt, shorts, sunglasses, and gardening gloves.

The man entered the building, which is owned by Boston University, and went past Fleet ATMs and through a glass door marked with the words Image X-Press. There, he handed a newspaper to the clerk at the document copying company, demanding cash.

''One of the clerks turned to another one of the clerks and questioned the note. Then they said, 'Do you know you are in a copy store and all we can give you is copies?' " said Boston University Police Captain Robert E. Molloy, who chuckled as he recounted the conversation. ''And he said he was looking for a Fleet bank."

Employees of the copying company made vague suggestions about another part of Commonwealth Avenue and once the man left called police.

Within an hour, a Fleet branch on Longwood Avenue was robbed by a man with a note hidden inside a newspaper, police said. The robber reportedly was wearing gardening gloves, which he ditched, along with other clothing, in an alley near the bank, police said. The Citizens bank was robbed at 3 p.m. yesterday.

A law enforcement source said that Callahan had been released from state prison within the last six months, where he had been serving a sentence for bank robbery.

Globe correspondent Martha Bartle contributed to this report.