A serial bank robber targeted four New York banks, was released under the city's new law which requires no bail for holding suspects, only to strike a fifth financial institution, police claim.

The suspect, Gerold Woodberry, 42, is alleged to have robbed banks in New York's Midtown Manhattan, Harlem, West Village and the Upper West Side, since December 30, sources said.

However, under the new 'no bail' law, he was released on Thursday.

This man, says the New York Police Department, is wanted for bank robbery in the city. He is pictured on bank surveillance

The same suspect is pictured in another surveillance image taken while he allegedly committed a bank robbery

Another image of the suspect was released by the NYPD from surveillance footage taken while the man is alleged to be committing a bank robbery

'I can't believe they let me out,' sources said he was overheard saying on the way out of the New York Police Department's headquarters, reports the New York Post.

'What were they thinking?' he added, allegedly striking a fifth bank in Downtown Brooklyn on Friday, the sources told the Post.

Woodberry passed paper notes each time he struck one of the financial institutions, and stole $1,000, it is claimed.

A police spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the matter has been forwarded to the District Attorney's office.

The new law, designed to reduce jail overcrowding and which went into effect in the new year, drops the bail requirement for most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, including robberies.

The suspect was identified by sources as Gerold Woodberry, 42, who was released under the city's new no-bail law, which doesn't require bail for holding certain suspects. 'I can't believe they let me out,' sources claim Woodbery said while leaving police headquarters

Woodberry left the NYPD's headquarters at 1 Police Plaza and is alleged to have robbed a bank in Downtown Brooklyn, allegedly his fifth heist since December 30, sources said

Critics, however, argue that some suspects should be required to post bail before they are back on the street after they are detained.

Woodberry is alleged to have first struck a bank in Midtown and got away with $1,000, sources said.

He then was alleged to have hit up banks in Harlem on January 3.

Sources said he got away with $1,000 from a bank in the West Village on Monday, but walked away empty-handed after passing a note to a teller on the Upper West Side two days later.

He is accused of targeting a bank in downtown Brooklyn after he was released from NYPD headquarters at 1 Police Plaza on Friday.

'Once the banks start complaining, hopefully the politicians will listen and change the law,' a source told to the Post.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the NYPD's 'Crime Stoppers Hotline' at 800-577-8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-577-4782.

The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at www.crimestoppers.com, on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.