A man has been charged with robbery after allegedly walking into a Salt Lake City bank on Monday and demanding $1 from the tellers. The suspect, 65-year-old Donald Matthew Santacroce, reportedly gave the tellers a note stating that the incident was a robbery but apologizing for it. After receiving the dollar bill, he refused to leave the bank and asked the tellers to call the police. He allegedly waited in the lobby for the police to arrive, telling the victims that they were “lucky” he didn’t have a gun because it would have made the police response faster.
The bank’s branch manager reportedly locked the employees in a back room for their safety, and Santacroce was taken into custody by the police when they arrived. He was said to have given the $1 back to the officers and admitted to the crime. According to the affidavit, he told the police that he committed the robbery because he wanted to be arrested and go to federal prison. The suspect also allegedly stated that if he was released from jail, he would rob another bank and ask for more money to ensure he would be sent to federal prison.
Santacroce was arrested last week in southern Utah during an investigation into drunk driving and careless driving. Records show he was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on a robbery charge. In 2011, a similar incident occurred in North Carolina when a man robbed a bank of $1 to receive health care in prison. Another homeless man in California committed a similar robbery in 2012 in an attempt to get shelter and medicine in jail. The Salt Lake Police have not disclosed whether they know why Santacroce wanted to go to prison.