A man charged with robbing a bank in Canton, Ohio, allegedly got a little confused when he wrote his demand note to tellers and forgot to ask the bank workers for money.
According to charging documents filed by the FBI on Dec. 11 and obtained by WSYX, Richard Hampton is accused of slipping a note to a teller at a Keybank location that read “give me the,” with the word “gun” written below it.
Hampton then pointed to his waistband several times and told the employee to hurry up.
Despite the confusing instructions, the teller handed over US$723 in cash. However, hidden inside a bundle of cash worth US$80 was a tracking device, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Police used the tracking device to locate Hampton and the stolen cash was recovered the same day.
In a video-recorded interview with investigators, Hampton confessed to robbing the bank and revealed that he had smoked crack before the crime, which is why he forgot to write the word “money” in his note, the court documents state.
Hampton allegedly recruited a getaway driver from a local grocery store and promised to pay him US$50 to drive him to and from the bank under the guise that he needed to cash a cheque.
Police said, “the vehicle was casually driving away without rush, including stopping at traffic lights,” after the robbery, according to the charging documents.
The documents also noted that Hampton did not wear a mask or try to conceal his identity.
According to local media reports, this is far from Hampton’s first time robbing a bank and this appears to be the third time he’s hit this particular Keybank location.
Hampton was previously sentenced to 100 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to robbing the same Keybank location back in 2016, according to the Canton Repository. He also robbed a FirstMerit branch at the time.
In 2005, Hampton robbed the same Keybank location as well as another branch in downtown Canton.