“Hello, is this the police? I’d like to report a bank robbery…by me.”.
After hitting up the Gate City Bank in Williston, North Dakota for some $700, Kent Anthony Clemens got a bad case of bank robber’s remorse, called the cops in his Topeka, Kansas hometown and turned himself in.
Clemens told authorities to arrest him for “making a mistake.” The “mistake” in this case was going into the Western North Dakota town’s branch of the Gate City Bank wearing dark glasses, a golf cap and a polo shirt, and telling the teller he had a gun so she needed to give him all her $20 and $50 bills.
“He looked more like he was going golfing than robbing a bank,” Williston police detective Cory Collings told local reporters.
Making off with less than $800 seems a little low for Williston, North Dakota these days. As the center of the North Dakota oil boom, the area is flush with money. North Dakota jumped to the number two spot among oil producing states this year when it overtook Alaska. Texas is still at the head of the pack.
Despite Clemens’ sudden influx of ready cash, he hadn’t blown the money on fancy new clothes. When police reached his home in Topeka, they found him in the same duds he was wearing when he knocked off the Williston bank.
After calling authorities in Topeka, he politely waited on his front porch for the responding officers. When they made it to the scene, he stretched out his hands for the cuffs and told them to arrest him for “making a mistake.” The cops obliged and after doing a little paper work, Clemens was on his way to North Dakota, where he has scheduled court appearances in Bismarck.
The original robbery occurred on July 18. Interestingly enough, Clemens called to turn himself in just three days later, which happened to be the weekend of his birthday. It’s the kind of gift law enforcement authorities are always ready to accept.
“It would be great if all our cases worked out like this. At least some of the sleepless nights would maybe go away,” Collings told the local media back in Williston.
According to Clemen’s sister, the remorseful robber had recently quit his job in Topeka telling her he was heading to the oil fields in either North Dakota, Alabama or Canada. When he returned home with his loot about a month later, she was the one who spent most of it. However, she was able to turn over four $50 bills to the authorities.
It’s refreshing when a criminal confesses his crime, expresses genuine remorse and doesn’t shirk the consequences of his actions.
Carrie
Carrie is a country girl living in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. When not working for her family's internet marketing firm, RYP Marketing, you can find Carrie reading, hiking, biking, shooting at the range or catching up on the latest news. You can contact Carrie via email at carrie@rypmarketing.com.
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