Ex-policeman charged over 'Bling Bandit' robberies

A former New York police detective with terminal cancer has been charged over a bank robbery linked to the so-called Bling Bandit.

Decorated Vietnam veteran Athelson Kelson is suspected of pulling off nine heists while wearing a flashy watch and ring.

The 59-year-old Kelson was charged in connection with a robbery at a Queens bank on July 10.

He has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

His mother, Hilda Kelson, told the Newsday newspaper today that her son had been struggling over the past few years with the disintegration of his marriage, memories from his experience in Vietnam and, most recently, his inoperable liver cancer.