New London — A 35-year-old Hartford man was captured six minutes after fleeing a Citizens Bank branch on Tuesday with a pocket full of cash, New London police said.

The robbery at the bank at 63 Eugene O'Neill Drive, a block away from the police department, was reported at 2:10 p.m. A witness eating lunch in his vehicle on Eugene O'Neill Drive said he watched the suspect exit the bank and flee toward State Street when the man's pocket exploded in a cloud of red dye and a mix of small and large bills.

The dye pack was apparently slipped into one of the wads of cash before the suspect left the bank. A stack of red bills was among the loose bills strewn about a sitting area at the corner of State Street and Eugene O'Neill Drive.

New London Deputy Chief Peter G. Reichard said the suspect was found and taken into custody inside the New London train station by 2:16 p.m. The suspect is identified as Jerry Thompson, 35, of Hartford.

Thompson was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries from the exploding dye pack, police said. The charges against Thompson have not yet been released.