A man who had just robbed a Bangor Savings Bank fell, sending cash flying in the wind in front of a state special agent

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A heist turned into a winter ice-capade in central Maine this week. Police say a man who had just robbed a bank ran across four lanes of traffic and a restaurant parking area before slipping on ice and dropping his gun – and the money – right in front of a state police special agent.

In Waterville, in central Maine, police chief Joseph Massey said a gust of wind sent the dollar bills flying across the parking lot while the man was apprehended on Tuesday, according to the local newspaper, the Morning Sentinel.

The scene unfolded right in front of a state special agent, Glenn Lang, who was not immediately aware of what had just taken place but smelt a rat when he saw the greenbacks on the breeze and an agitated man on the skids.

Lang leapt out of his car and tackled the man, who was handcuffed and ultimately hauled off to jail.

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Lang, with the Maine state police computer crimes taskforce, just happened to be parked in the right place at the right time, according to law enforcement, as the suspect scrambled to escape after robbing a branch of the Bangor Savings Bank.

“When he fell, the money and the gun he had stashed in his jacket pocket spilled onto the parking lot, and the money was swept across the parking lot by the wind,” the police chief, Joseph Massey, said later. “Members of the public tried to scoop it up.”

Police officers rushed to the scene in the parking area of a Chinese restaurant and retrieved the money, stashing it in paper bags.

“I had just left my shift at Harbor Freight [a hardware chain] and was sitting in my truck talking to my mother in Pennsylvania and saw money flying everywhere,” Robert Goetz, 52, told the Morning Sentinel.

“I’m like, ‘Mom, I’m witnessing a bank robbery here. I gotta go,’” Goetz recalled.

The alleged robber, Jason Mackenrodt, 37, was arrested and taken to the county jail in Augusta, Maine, where he awaits an appearance in court.