Man uses birth certificate to rob Missouri bank, then throws cash out window, feds say
Wanting to “prove a point” to his lover during an argument, federal investigators say a Missouri man robbed a Bank of America with a not-so-traditional demand note.
Authorities say Michael C. Loyd entered the Springfield bank wearing a gray cut-off T-shirt, blue gym shorts and one orange shoe at about 11:30 a.m. local time Wednesday, July 20.
He went up to a teller with a piece of “printer-like paper” that said “Give Your Money Now. Don’t Say Anything. I Have A Partner Outside” in pink ink, according to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
That demand was later determined to have been written on the back of Loyd’s birth certificate, officials say.
The teller, feeling “scared and threatened,” gave Loyd the money before he left the bank in a black Dodge Ram pickup truck, according to court records.
He was interviewed by authorities that same day after someone called police identifying Loyd as his girlfriend’s roommate, authorities said.
Loyd’s defense attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on July 27.
‘Throwing money out the window’
During an interview, authorities say Loyd admitted to robbing the Bank of America location to “prove a point.” He reportedly said he had no idea which bank he’d robbed, but decided on the Bank of America after driving by it.
While in the parking lot, officials say he used a highlighter to write the demand on the back of his birth certificate. He believes he wrote “Be quite until I leave and give me all the money.”
Loyd was given $754 — and as he was driving away, he threw his ID card and birth certificate out his driver’s side window, records state.
As he was driving to his roommate’s home, authorities say Loyd saw police cars driving toward the bank with their police lights activated.
“Loyd got scared and started throwing money out the window,” investigators wrote in the complaint. “Loyd was not sure on how much of the money he had disposed of because he was unsure on how much money the bank gave him.”
The Springfield man texted his roommate asking her to report her truck stolen, officials said, and he changed clothes ones he got home.
He then called his lover to tell her what he did, according to the complaint.
Loyd told investigators he robbed the bank by himself — without input or help from others — and he “expected to receive prison time and he would take full responsibility for whatever punishment he was to receive.”
Loyd is charged with bank robbery by force or violence in federal court.
This story was originally published July 27, 2022 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Man uses birth certificate to rob Missouri bank, then throws cash out window, feds say."