Police in Saginaw, Michigan Used a Trap Straight Out of Looney Tunes to Lure Out and Shoot a Bank Robber Who Had Taken an Employee Hostage
M Live — It was a Faygo Red Pop that hastened the end of a multi-hour hostage situation inside a Saginaw Township bank branch. The beverage dangled from a drone and, as the would-be robber stood in front of a window to retrieve it, a police trooper fired a shot from a nearby rooftop, mortally wounding the suspect and bringing the standoff to a close.
Police have identified the slain suspect as Quinton M. Allen, 31 of Detroit, confirmed Michigan State Police Lt. Kim Vetter.
Allen at about 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 27, visited the Mercantile Saginaw Virtual Branch and Lending Office at 5444 State St., Suite 2, though the branch had closed a half-hour earlier. He encountered a lone 40-year-old female employee and said he wanted to cash a check, which turned out to be fraudulent, Vetter said.
The branch does not have cash on hand and requires customers to make appointments. Police did not say how he was able to enter the building after it had closed for the day.
The employee informed Allen she could not cash his check, at which point he attacked her and demanded money, Vetter said. Allen used a sharp object as a weapon but was not armed with a gun, the lieutenant confirmed.
Police from numerous agencies responded to the scene in one of the township’s busiest commercial districts. They erected a perimeter and closed roughly a half-mile of State Street between Center and Wieneke road for several hours Friday evening. A crowd of civilian spectators still gathered nearby, taking photos and videos of the incident.
Police negotiated with Allen as he kept the woman captive inside. During their discussions, Allen requested a Faygo Red Pop, Vetter said.
About 8:05 p.m., an MSP drone flew to the building with a 24-ounce bottle of the red soda hanging from it. As the beverage dangled in front of a window, Allen appeared and a member of the MSP Emergency Services Team fired a single rifle shot from his position on the roof of the AutoZone Auto Parts store located across the street at 5545 State St., Vetter said.
I normally try not to blog stories that feature a human being losing their life. But in this situation, when we have a bank robber holding an employee hostage, threatening her life with a weapon, I'm not going to pretend to feel especially terrible for the man who was killed. And when you read how exactly the hostage negotiators lured this bank robber to the front door and into their line of fire... I mean... the story is straight out of Looney Tunes. I'm almost certain that somewhere along the line, Wile E. Coyote attempted to utilize this exact strategy. Probably using a crate of ACME brand bird seed as bai in an attempt to lure the Road Runner out of his home and into Wile E. Coyotes belly. The difference being the Road Runner surely would have both acquired the ACME bird seed, and escaped safely with his life while Wile E. Coyote wound up burnt to a crisp underneath an anvil.
Unfortunately for this bank robber in Saginaw, Michigan, he never quite got to enjoy his ice cold Faygo. I have to say, considering this man fell for the ol' Faygo on a rope trick, it does make me wonder if the police really needed to kill the guy in order to apprehend him. He obviously wasn't the brightest criminal mastermind. He was attempting to rob the only bank in the world that doesn't keep cash on hand after all (I'm sure it's not the only bank, but what are the chances?). Kinda makes me think they could have just slowly pulled the drone back and led him directly into the back of a cop car. But if you're crazy enough to threaten an innocent civilian's life at a moneyless bank, then you kinda forfeit the right to be given the benefit of the doubt.
If the Darwin Awards were still around today, I'm afraid we might have a new front runner. I wonder what exactly happened to the Darwin Awards. For the longest time they'd publish their annual book celebrating those who, "sacrificed their very lives--inadvertently to be sure--to improve our gene pool by that one minute iota." Pretty damn morbid if you think about it. They didn't just go after criminals, or "bad people" either. Nobody was off limits. I looks like their last awards were given out in 2022, and by the end, the deaths weren't even all that "funny". They weren't even especially stupid. In 2021, a Darwin Award was given to two men who were arguing on the side of the road after getting in a car crash, then were struck and killed by a third vehicle in the midst of their argument. That's not an especially smart way to go, but it's not some exceptionally crazy story. mNot nearly as crazy as compromising your position in a hostage situation at the hands of a Faygo dangling from a drone.