A 65-year-old man from Utah, Donald Santacroce, committed a robbery at a Salt Lake City Wells Fargo bank on Monday. According to reports, the suspect asked the teller for $1 and politely waited for the police to arrive and arrest him.
Motive?
Santacroce entered the bank, intending to get arrested so he could go to jail. He was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on one charge of felony robbery.
The arrest affidavit, obtained by KSL.com, revealed Santacroce handed a note to the teller that read, “Please pardon me for doing this, but this is a robbery. Please give me $1. Thank you.”
After receiving the dollar, he refused to leave and instructed the teller to call the police. The affidavit stated Santacroce then sat down in the bank entrance and lingered for the police to come.
He even told the victims they were lucky he did not have a gun because the police were taking too long to arrive. The branch manager then locked the employees in a back room for safety.
Man Robs Utah bank of $1 demands to go to federal prison
Nobody can buy a meal with a dollar anymore, but prison has plenty of meals. Everybody can figure this out.https://t.co/rOfZ20KD9D pic.twitter.com/TlDt5CXtXp
— SynCronus (@syncronus) March 9, 2023
Santacroce returned the dollar bill to the police when he was arrested; he stated he had robbed the bank to go to federal prison.
He even expressed his intention to rob another bank if he gets out of jail, asking for more money in the hope of achieving his desired result.
This Happened In The Past
This is not the first incident involving such an odd motive.
In 2011, a man from North Carolina robbed a bank for a roller to receive medical care in prison. The man had no employment, two busted discs within his spinal column, and a growth in his chest. He was charged with larceny for the incident.
Similarly, a homeless man in Orange County, California broke into a Wells Fargo bank and passed a demand note to a teller, hoping to receive shelter and medical care in prison.
A real story: One day a homeless man decides to rob a bank so he comes to the bank and gives the note to the teller: "Give me 1 dollar" and, then, he patiently waits on the chair for the police to come and take him to prison so that he can get a bed and the medical care…
— Aspie for peace! (@timmins316) February 7, 2023
It is important to note that robbing a bank is a federal crime.
Even attempting to steal or extort property from a bank is punishable by a fine and up to 20 years in prison under 18 U.S. Code § 2113. Taking property worth less than $1,000 adds an additional fine and up to a year in prison.
It is still unclear what motivated Santacroce to rob the bank. However, it was reported he had been arrested a week earlier by the Utah Highway Patrol in Iron County for carelessly operating a vehicle and doing so while under the influence.
The state troopers noted his Missouri driver’s license was suspended.
Ultimately, Donald Santacroce committed a robbery at a Wells Fargo bank with the intention of going to federal prison. To recap, he politely asked for $1, then waited patiently for the police to arrive and arrest him.
