Ryan Coogler, the award-winning director of "Black Panther," was detained by police in January after being mistaken by a bank teller for a bank robber.
According to an Atlanta Police Department incident report obtained by NBC News, the 35-year-old filmmaker was detained on Jan. 7 after making a transaction at a Bank of America branch in Atlanta, where he has been filming the sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."
Coogler had his California ID card and a Bank of America account card with him at the time, according to the incident report.
"This situation should never have happened. However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on," Coogler said in a statement obtained by NBC News.
The police report said that Coogler handed a bank teller, described as a "pregnant Black female," a note jotted down on the back of a withdrawal slip. The note asked the teller to withdraw a sum of money larger than $10,000 from Coogler's own account, and requested that she "be discreet" when handing Coogler the cash.
Coogler was wearing a hat, sunglasses and a protective face mask at the time, according to TMZ, which first reported the news.
The teller received an alert notification from Coogler's account and believed Coogler was trying to rob the bank, according to the incident report. After she informed her manager at the bank, 911 was called. Police officers arrived and handcuffed Coogler. They also detained two of Coogler's associates who had been waiting for him in a Lexus SUV parked outside the bank.
The police report said that once the bank realized its mistake, Coogler was "immediately" taken out of handcuffs and Coogler's associates were released from the back of a patrol car. All three were also given apologies.
Before leaving, the report added, Coogler requested the names and badge numbers for every police officer at the scene.
Bank of America released a statement about the incident, also obtained by NBC News: “We deeply regret that this incident occurred. It never should have happened and we have apologized to Mr. Coogler.”
NBC News has reached out to the Atlanta Police Department for comment.