Man charged with stealing $1 from Utah bank, demanding to go to federal prison
Utah police have arrested a bank robbery suspect accused of demanding only $1 from employees and subsequently refusing to leave, insisting instead that he would wait for authorities to arrive.
The suspect, 65-year-old Donald Santacroce, reportedly walked into a Wells Fargo bank near 300 South Main Street in Salt Lake City on Monday morning and presented a note to the bank tellers that read, “Please excuse me for have done this, but it is theft. Please give me $1.00. THANKS.
The employees obeyed and asked Santacroce to leave, but he refused.
In a bizarre twist, he said they should call the police.
He then sat in the bank lobby and waited for their arrival.
As he waited, Santacroce appeared to complain about how long it took officers to arrive at the scene.
“Donald told the victims they were lucky [he] didn’t have a gun because the police took so long to get there,” the arrest affidavit states.
After making this statement, the bank branch manager ushered the employees into the back office for their safety and locked the doors. No one was injured during the accident.
When officers arrived, Santacroce was arrested.
He gave the $1 bill to the officers and said he entered the bank with the intention of stealing it.
He explained that he committed the bank robbery, a federal crime, because he “wanted to get arrested and go to federal prison.”
Santacroce said if he got out of jail he would rob another bank and demand more money until he was sent to federal prison.
It’s unclear why he was so keen on going to a federal prison.
He was taken to the Salt Lake County Metropolitan Jail around 6:15 p.m. for robbery.
He has not been in custody since Wednesday. It is not immediately known if he has a lawyer.
Santacroce had been stopped last week by the Utah Highway Patrol in Iron County for a DUI investigation and reckless driving.