A Texas man rented a car to rob a bank, then drove back to the dealership to use the stolen cash to try and buy a BMW. Eric Dion Warren, 50, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 2019 crime, which took place in a town near Lubbock. According to an official press release by the US Attorney’s Office, Warren received the maximum sentence and will serve out the two decades in federal prison.
- Warren’s plan wasn’t too smart. After renting a car at a dealership, Warren drove it to the bank, put a fast-food bag on the counter, and passed the teller a note that said: “This is a f***ing robbery. Play with me and die. I want $10,000 in 50 and 100 dollar bills now you got 1 minute or I will kill you.” He even pulled out what appeared to be a gun and demanded only $50 and $100 notes.
- The teller gave Warren the money and something else. In total, Warren made off with $5,086 in cash, but that cash included a roll of $20 bills with recorded serial numbers. After he left, the bank called the police on him, and Warren headed back to the bank and “began waving the cash that he had illegally obtained from the bank robbery at employees in the car dealership” while trying to buy a BMW with it.
- He was caught pretty quickly. Police quickly tracked the getaway car back to the dealership and headed over, where they found Warren with his cash and a pellet gun disguised to look like a real gun. Whoops! “Mr. Warren was arrested with $5,086 in cash. The serial numbers of the money found on Mr. Warren’s person were cross-referenced and matched the numbers of the bills stolen from AIM bank,” read the official release. “Law enforcement also recovered a painted pellet gun, resembling a real handgun, approximately 10 feet away from Mr. Warren at the time of his arrest.”
- Warren pleaded guilty to the crime right away. Given that DNA and fingerprints appeared on the stolen cash and he was caught red-handed, he thankfully was smart enough to plead guilty to bank robbery. He’ll have plenty of time to think of a cleverer plan during his two decades behind bars.
