'Ruined' man stages armed bank robbery to get sent to prison
'Ruined' man stages armed bank robbery to get sent to prison
A BUSINESS-OWNER who has lost everything staged an armed robbery at a bank this week in order to be sent to prison.
The 35-year-old had been forced to shut down his premises and was unable to pay his mortgage.
In desperation, he burst into a branch of La Caixa in his home town, Málaga, with his face uncovered, wielding a kitchen knife and a long wooden pole, and told the staff: “This is a hold-up and I'm armed, but I'm not going to harm you or steal anything. Please call the police.”
Although police cars with their sirens wailing were hammering down the streets, and armed officers surrounded the bank, inside the building total normality reigned – despite a man with a knife being in their midst, staff carried on working, attending to customers and answering the telephone.
The 'robber' even chatted to them as they waited for the police, telling them that he had lost his home and his business and wanted to go to jail.
When the police had surrounded the bank, a trained negotiator from the force telephoned the staff member who had called emergency services and asked him to pass the phone to the armed man.
The 'bank robber' told them he intended to give himself up and would be found on his knees in the branch, with his weapons left on a table at some distance away.
Officers did not even have to handcuff him – they sat him on a chair and calmed him down, before reading him his rights and taking him to a patrol car.
As he was leaving, one of the bank employees told the officers that the intruder had wanted his head to be covered with his green jacket on the way out so that nobody recognised him, and the police complied with his wishes.
But after the man's initial hearing in court, he did not get his wish to go to jail – the judge simply released him with a caution.
