A Utah man robbed a bank for $1 for the sole purpose of being sent to a federal prison for the crime.
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Last Monday, Donald Santacroce walked into a Wells Fargo Bank in Salt Lake City and handed a note to one of the tellers. “Please pardon me for doing this, but this is a robbery. Please give me $1.00. Thank you,” the note said, and the teller initially thought it was a joke. After giving him the dollar and asking him to leave, Santacroce told them he had just robbed the bank and suggested they call the police.
Authorities said Santacroce reportedly sat in the bank lobby and waited to be arrested as bank employees were ushered into a back room for safety, as reported by Oddity Central. Additionally, he complained that the police were taking too long to arrive at the bank.
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According to the arrest affidavit, Santacroce said at one point that the victims were lucky he didn’t have a gun because the officers were taking their time.
“Responding officers and a patrol sergeant worked together to enter the bank and safely arrest Santacroce. There were no injuries reported. Officers booked Santacroce into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on one count of robbery.”
Santacroce was released from Salt Lake County Metro Jail on Wednesday. A week before the “robbery,” by Utah Highway Patrol in Iron County for a DUI and careless driving in addition to using a suspended license from Missouri.
Police also confirmed he wanted to be arrested and sent to federal prison.
“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.”
There have been other instances where people have committed robberies or other crimes to have a place to stay in jail.
There was one case where a Mississippi man broke the windows of a government building so he could spend a night away from the cold. Sheriff Travis Patten said the suspect asked if he could spend the night in the jail, but he wasn’t allowed due to liability reasons, as per USA Today. The suspect responded, “I will make you lock me up then.”
He went across the street, busted a courthouse’s windows with his elbow, and grabbed a table from the sheriff’s office to finish his act. Patten said the man was arrested, but it shed light on the neighborhood’s homeless population.
“Now, am I condoning him tearing up county property? Absolutely not, But when you put people in desperate situations, during desperate times, they do desperate things. If there was a shelter he would not have to have committed a crime to have been able to get out of the cold, and could have also had a hot meal.”