Man who demanded one cent in Florida bank robbery arrested and charged

Police who had been alerted to a robbery at the Chase Bank branch in Lady Lake, a town about 65km north of Orlando, found the suspect still inside the premises and he “was taken into custody without incident”.

Michael Patrick Fleming (41) was arrested after he had earlier walked into the bank, filled out a withdrawal slip, and handed it to a teller.

“The defendant was told he could not be given $00.01,” the police report noted.

Fleming reportedly told the teller, “So you want me to say the other word?” The teller “was in fear that possible violence was imminent” and “notified law enforcement,” cops said.

After he was taken into custody, Fleming was transported to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office where he was interviewed by investigators.

Fleming reportedly told them: “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.”

Fleming claimed that he was expecting the teller “to give him the $00.01,” adding that he “would then sit in the chair and wait for law enforcement.”

Fleming “advised his goal was to be arrested”, a police report adds.