Sam Amico
A man barged into a Utah bank and demanded money, leading the teller to frantically call the police.
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OK, that’s pretty much the opposite of what happened. Instead, the sort-of robber handed a note to the teller and politely demanded $1. Then he sat and waited for the police to show up and arrest him.
And Donald Matthew Santacroce, 65, was indeed arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on a robbery charge, the Salt Lake City Police Department reported.
“Please pardon me for doing this but this is a robbery. Please give me $1. Thank you,” Santacroce wrote in a note he handed to a Wells Fargo branch teller, as relayed by KSL.
The teller complied and gave Santacroce his buck. He then told the teller to call the cops. Then he waited for the cops to arrive.
“The man, later identified as Donald Santacroce, took the money and refused to leave the bank,” police wrote in a press release.
For their “safety,” employees were removed from the premises.
“Donald sat down in the bank lobby and waited for police to arrive. While waiting for police, Donald made a statement to the victims that they are lucky (he) didn’t have a gun because it was taking the police so long to get there. At this point the branch manager said she ushered all of her employees into a back room for their safety where she locked the doors,” the affidavit obtained by KSL read.
Santacroce said he needed to go to jail to keep himself from robbing another bank. Or something like that.
“Donald said he had done this because he wanted to get arrested and go to federal prison. Donald stated that if he gets out of jail, he will rob another bank and ask for more money next time trying to get the desired result of going to federal prison,” per the affidavit.
No injuries were reported and the bank is back to business as usual. But it’s important to note, if you want a dollar, all you need to do is fill out a deposit slip. Or maybe just ask someone on the street.
If you want to go to federal prison, though, you likely will need to pull off a bigger heist than Santacroce’s $1 caper.
