SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 8, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A 65-year-old man was arrested by Salt Lake City police after he allegedly handed a teller an apologetic note saying he was robbing the bank of $1.
Arrest documents say Donald Matthew Santacroce entered the downtown Wells Fargo Bank location Monday morning and presented the note, saying “Please pardon me for doing this but this is a robbery. Please give me $1. Thank you.”
Tellers handed over the $1, and asked Santacrose to leave.
“Donald advised the victims he was not leaving and that they should call the police. 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 we didn’t have a gun because it was taking the police so long to get there.”
The branch manager told responding officers she then ushered employees to a back room and locked it for their safety, Santacroce’s arrest documents say.
“Once officers arrived Donald was taken into custody inside of the bank. Donald provided officers with the $1 bill he had received from the bank. Post Miranda Donald stated that he had entered the bank with the intent to rob it and presented a note demanding they give him $1. Donald said he was given the dollar and told to leave but he told the bank employees no, and that they had to call police and he was waiting for them.
“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.”
Special agents from the FBI Salt Lake City field office responded to help with the investigation. The arresting Salt Lake City Police suggested Santacroce be held without bail.
“Based on the AP’s statements that he will continue to rob banks and will escalate his behavior to get the result of going to Federal Prison I believe he poses a substantial risk to the public if he is released,” the arresting officer’s statement says.
Santacroce was charged with robbery, a second-degree felony, but he was not was not booked into jail. He was released on conditions including he return for court proceedings and not commit additional crimes.
