Michael Fleming Florida man tries to withdraw 1 cent at Sumter County bank he doesn’t have an account at so he can be arrested, as he now faces a felony robbery charge and now presumably a roof over his head and three square meals…
Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Case in point, a 41 year old Florida man who hatched the plan of attempting to withdraw one cent from a bank account that he did not possess at a local financial institution, knowing full well that the bank teller would be forced to call the police, which is exactly what happened as the ‘would be robber’ proceeded to patiently wait for officers to arrest him.
It all started when Michael Fleming, 41 (of no fixed address) on June 29 went to a Chase bank branch in Lady Lake – a town in Lake County – and handed the man behind the counter a withdrawal slip for one cent.
Except there was a problem. Fleming didn’t have an account with Chase which preempted the teller from processing the ‘would be customer’s’ withdrawal request.
Desperate times, desperate measures…
According to court documents obtained by Law&Crime Fleming upon being told he could not be given $00.01, responded, ‘So you want me to say the other word?’
‘The bank teller, in fear that violence was imminent, notified law enforcement,’ court documents stated.
The employee then decided to call the cops to try and de-escalate the situation, resulting in the 41 year old man being handcuffed and taken into custody.
Officers stated there was probable cause to believe the defendant had violated robbery laws when speaking with the bank teller.
Fleming has since been charged with one felony count of robbery with no firearm or weapon according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
But there’s more.
During police questioning Fleming told deputies that he first drove to the Citizens First Bank, only to find it closed, before parking a few parking lots over to the Chase Bank.
Defendant planned to be arrested
Noted an arrest affidavit: ‘The defendant described walking into the bank, filled out a withdrawal slip for $00.01, provided it to the bank teller who advised we can’t give you one cent, at which time the defendant advised ‘So you want me to say the other word?’, at which time the bank teller had some kind of realization of what was taking place, and stepped away from the counter.’
Fleming allegedly said to police: ‘Most of the time, the way tellers are trained if someone comes in to rob you, you give them the money and let them go.’
Court docs continued: ‘The defendant advised he was expecting the bank teller to give him the $00.01, at which time he would then sit in the chair and wait for law enforcement.
‘The defendant advised after not receiving anything from the teller, he just waited in the lobby for law enforcement to arrive. The defendant advised his goal was to be arrested.’
Law enforcement went on to note that no money was obtained during the alleged bank robbery attempt.
Not immediately clear is whether Fleming actually had an account with Citizens First Bank, where he first told deputies driving up to and the defendant’s financial circumstances along with living arrangements which presumably will now be jail and perhaps what the presumably homeless man sought all along … a roof over his head, 3 meals a day even if it meant giving up his freedom… (as opposed to being poor and homeless in the outside world).
Fleming continues to remain at the Sumter County Detention Center since his arrest in lieu of a $5000 bond that was placed on him.
