BROOKLYN

* Police yesterday released the above photo of a gun-toting bandit who allegedly held up a grocery store in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

The unidentified gunman was caught by a surveillance camera in Brother Grocery Store at 156 Patchen Ave. on Dec. 26.

The robbery began at 1:45 p.m. when the man and an accomplice walked into the store, made a purchase, and left.

Three minutes later they returned, with one of them standing at the door as a lookout.

His accomplice pulled out a silver gun, put his wallet on the counter and ordered the cashier to fill it with money from the register.

The 18-year-old clerk stuffed $200 into the wallet.

The thief captured on film was described as a Hispanic man between 23 and 28 years old, 5-foot-7 and 175 pounds.

He was last seen wearing a tan cap, beige jacket and a beige shirt with black lettering.

* A hooded man (above) is being sought by police in a string of four Brooklyn bank robberies that has netted him about $20,000 since last month.

Between Dec. 17 and Jan. 12 he passed three demand-notes to tellers at separate branches, and verbally demanded money from another teller. He escaped with cash each time.

He is described as a white man in his late 30s or early 40s, between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-8 and 190 to 220 pounds.

A would-be bank robber got no money from a teller at a Midwood bank – and ended up arrested by two attentive transit cops as he tried to get away, police said.

Lenell Salley, 40, walked into the Washington Mutual branch at 1101 Avenue J at 9:50 a.m. and passed a note to the teller demanding money.

The teller refused to hand over any cash and Salley fled the bank empty-handed.

He ran to a nearby subway station and hopped on a southbound Q train.

But when the train pulled into the Sheepshead Bay station, transit cops Wayne Green and Gary Miliante recognized him from a description just broadcast over the police radio, and they put Salley in handcuffs.

He was charged with robbery and criminal possession of a weapon.

* A fire in a Highland Park garage wafted clouds of marijuana smoke into the air yesterday and led cops to discover a about 30 pounds of pot, law-enforcement sources said.

The fire broke out at 168-B Miller Avenue at 1:45 p.m. and after it was brought under control about 25 minutes later, cops found potted marijuana plants in the building’s garage.

According to a law-enforcement source, the fire may have been sparked when heating lamps used to help grow the marijuana blew out.

Police last night were trying to determine who was growing the marijuana in the rented garage. (s, lcf)

* A Bushwick man threatened and choked a long-time acquaintance for “disrespecting” him in an on-going beef, authorities said yesterday.

On Dec. 10, Miguel Molinar was getting loud at an undisclosed location when he was told by Francisco Bethone, whom he has known 15 years, to keep it down, cops said.

The two agreed to settle their differences the next day, but did not meet again until Dec. 22, when Bethone bumped into Molinar outside a store on Linden Street.

Molinar, 40, followed Bethone into the store and confronted him at a counter, threatening to slap him in the face for the affront, cops said.

But the 24-year-old Bethone stood his ground and Molinar left the store. When Bethone walked outside carrying groceries, Molinar approached him and ordered him to put his bag down so they could finish the situation.

Molinar then allegedly grabbed Bethone around the neck and started choking him. Two people spotted the scrap and broke it up.

Molinar fled the scene while Bethone called 911. Police arrested Molinar Tuesday afternoon at his residence on Knickerbocker Avenue. (m)

MANHATTAN

* Police yesterday released the above photo of a middle-aged man who allegedly robbed thousands of dollars from three banks in Manhattan and Queens.

The unidentified man in his 50s struck first at 9:05 a.m. on Dec. 26, when he walked into the Greenpoint branch at Sixth Avenue and 47th Street in Midtown and slipped a note demanding money to a teller.

After getting cash, he fled. Three days later he repeated the same act at 2:50 p.m. in a Ponce de Leon branch at Third Avenue and 106th Street in East Harlem before fleeing with cash.

The final robbery took place this past Saturday at 10 a.m. in the HSBC branch at 63rd Drive and Saunders Street in Rego Park, where the thief passed a demand-note and escaped with loot.

The robber is described as a white man in his 50s, between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10, weighing approximately 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing a wool ski cap and a dark-colored parka.

STATEN ISLAND

* Two women were arrested after beating the sister of one of the suspects on a St. George street, authorities said yesterday.

Deseree Gomez, 23, and Jessica Linares, 24, approached Vanessa Linares at the corner of Stuyvesant Place and Hamilton Avenue around noon on Dec. 26.

Linares yanked her sister’s hair while Gomez punched Vanessa in the face, injuring her eye, cops said.

Police caught the suspects on Tuesday and charged them with assault.

A 19-year-old man was arrested after stealing a coin machine containing more than $1,000 in a Fox Hills building, authorities said yesterday.

Brandon Adkins and two accomplices broke into a locked laundry room in the apartment building on Vanderbilt Avenue near Irving Place around 3 a.m. on Jan. 6, cops said.

They snatched the coin machine and fled, investigators said.

Police grabbed Adkins on Tuesday and charged him with burglary, grand larceny and criminal mischief.