Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey still likes being in middle of the action after all these years.

The city's top cop and his driver, Officer Christopher Frazier, were on their way back from a downtown meeting at about 1 p.m. on Wednesday when they heard a call go out on police radio about two people trying to pass off a fake check at a Bank of America.

Car One arrived at the bank, located at 16th Street and JFK Boulevard, before any other law-enforcement teams. One of the suspects was inside the bank, trying to pass off the phony check, while the second was working as the lookout outside.

"Next thing I know, the commissioner says, 'I got the one outside. You go after the other one." Within seconds, the city's top cop was patting down the twenty-something suspect, who turned out to be a woman dressed in baggy clothing.

Ramsey led the lookout person back into the bank. "I asked her if she had any weapons and patted the outside of her clothing. I heard a lot of, 'Yo dawg, don't touch me,'" said Ramsey, who didn't bother mentioning to the young offender that he was the police commissioner.

Frazier said the other suspect, another young woman, was still trying to pass off a bad cashier's check for $4,900 when he got inside the bank. "She was trying to convince them that she worked construction and got four months' pay," Frazier said.

Ramsey seemed delighted as several cops teased him about the arrest at last night's Fencl Award ceremony in South Philadelphia. "We're always out there, responding to calls," he said. "That's the fun part of the job."