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FBI via AP
Surveillance photos provided by the FBI's St. Louis office show a serial bank robber dubbed the Bucket List Bandit on, from left, June 21, June 27 and July 6. Michael Eugene Brewster, 54, was arrested Thursday night after a traffic stop in Roland, Okla., the FBI said.
A suspect in a series of bank robberies that earned the perpetrator the nickname "Bucket List Bandit" is under arrest after a routine traffic stop by Roland, Okla., police, the FBI announced Friday.
Michael Eugene Brewster, 54, of Pensacola, Fla., was arrested Thursday, police said. Brewster is wanted in at least 10 bank robberies from Flagstaff, Ariz., to Erie, Pa., where a teller picked out his photo from a lineup after a Monday heist, the FBI said.
The suspect earned the nickname "Bucket List Bandit" after he allegedly passed a Roy, Utah, bankteller a note on July 6 saying he had only four months to live, the FBI said.
Roland Assistant Police Chief David Goode told NBC News he arrested Brewster after he ran a stop sign Thursday night in the town of about 3,000 just west of Fort Smith, Ark.
“Subsequent to the stop, red flags were raised,” Goode said.
He said he could not go into too many specifics.
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“I placed him under arrest unrelated to the bank robbery,” Goode said.
Brewster was driving a car reported stolen from Pensacola, Goode said. “That was just another charge,” he said.
After Brewster was taken into custody, police learned Brewster “could have been possibly involved in more serious crimes,” Goode said.
The FBI told The Associated Press that besides Flagstaff, Roy and Erie, Brewster was wanted in connection with robberies in Pocatello, Idaho; Winston-Salem, N.C.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Bloomington, Ill.; Columbia and O'Fallon, Mo., and Arvada, Colo., the Denver suburb where his alleged crime spree began.
The agency had issued a nationwide appeal for the public’s help in finding the serial bank robbery suspect.
After the Erie robbery, a confidential informant called to give agents Brewster's name and birth date after recognizing his picture in media accounts, the FBI told the AP. A federal warrant doesn't say how the person knew that information.
Investigators haven't said whether they've confirmed if Brewster is terminally ill.
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The federal warrant doesn't identify Brewster’s hometown, but indicates he's wanted for borrowing a black Chevy Captiva from a woman in Pensacola on June 11 and not returning it. The vehicle was similar to one described by witnesses at several of the robberies.
No one has been hurt in any of the robberies and officials aren't saying how much money was taken, except for $4,080 from the Erie bank, which was disclosed in the FBI arrest warrant.
This article includes reporting by NBC's Jim Gold and The Associated Press.
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Leave a Comment:
Wow, I get to go first.... Well, the present day Willie Sutton had a good run & after the way the banks & Wall Street screwed the American people, I was hoping that he kept on rolling as long as he didn't hurt anyone... He is an old guy, hope the Judge gives him a break since he went out & did what ALOT of folks wish they could do to the banks...
Eddie in Seattle- this guy is not old he's only 54 . Do the crime do the time no matter how old or young someone is and I to am glad he didn't hurt anyone.
Eddie,
I have noticed that bank robbers are getting more and more sympathy these days including from me. I had a bank confiscate by ATM card (which was from another bank; not theirs) after their ATM machine has robbed me of about $400.00 through a malfunction. That bank was later robbed, and I cheered when I heard about it. I don't think the bank bailout and the way banks rip people off in so many ways has won them many friends.
Stealing is steailing. It doesn't make it right either way.
Give it a rest,
"Stealing is steailing. It doesn't make it right either way."
Only the banks can and do get away with stealing. It's only the poor bank robbers who go to prison. Needless to say, the banks do not have my sympathy.
Actually its the Federal Reserve that does the stealing. It's not your local home town bank. But I stand by my stance that stealing is stealing. It is not right either way. What if the bank teller had a heart attack when presented with the situation and died? Do you think the bank teller is in on the global banking scam or is just trying to make a living?
Give it a rest,
"its the Federal Reserve that does the stealing. It's not your local home town bank."
Oh no? I went into a local bank and used my ATM card in their machine. The machine, which was obviously out of order, did not give me any money although I had requested $400.00. I went to the manager and explained what had happened expecting her to do something so that I would either get my money or at least the "withdrawal" would not be charged to my account. Instead of helping me, the manager added insult to injury by taking my ATM card away from me, "explaining" that in such cases it was their "policy" to confiscate the customer's card. In other words when their machine rips you off, it is their policy to confiscate you card. My card was not even from their bank, but they took it and kept it. I had to go to my credit union and have them issue a new ATM card. When I explained what had happened, they were puzzled as to why the manager should have taken my card. I did not think of it at the time, but if I had, I would have called the police and had that bank manager arrested for theft. That card was not her property. It was mine. And when you take another person's property without that person's permission, that is theft. That bank not only stole $400.00 from me; they stole my ATM card as well. So as I say, I have no sympathy with banks when they get robbed.
That is a @!$%#ty thing to have happened. I stand corrected. Some hometown banks can suck. I'm sorry that something like that happened to you.
Give it a rest,
Thanks. That's why I have no sympathy for banks, and you know what? That bank had the nerve to start sending me advertisements in the mail after that trying to get me to open an account there, as if I would spit on the best part of them after what they did.
@Give it a rest!
Yes, stealing is stealing... so why aren't any of the bankers in jail?
Wow ... now I'm not sure who's more of an idiot.
I'll make the answer easy for you... YOU!!!!
wonder if he tossed any bank money out the window of the car while police were pulling him over. lol
He's going to enjoy seeing the bucket list everyday now..washing the prison floors for years!
Actually he will have a free place to stay and free food to eat and access to fitness and TV. Not too bad after having an exhilarating spree of craziness.
Not a "Bad Deal", If he's terminally ill!
Three meals a day, a place to lay his head, and medical attention for the rest of his life .... Probably better than what he was lookin forward to on the streets!
Oh he thought that this being on the run is gettin old and ,I'm tired of washing my own cloths ,Think I'll just run that stop sign and call it a day....He must have wanted to get caught.Mabey he really is sick and needs help.anyway he's done....
Gee, I really get excited when I read articles that are about seniors finding new lines of work after retirement. I always wanted to rob a bank but just never had the nerve to do it. But now that I see this douche and how he was able to rob multiple banks and get away with it there actually might be light at the end of this tunnel. I would just have to get my moves down and then head out and see what i can get away with. Just think of it, you could rob a bank live the life until the run out of money then go out and do it all over again.
Michael Eugene Brewster, 54, of Pensacola, Fla he's not a senior and he's not retired, maybe retarded.
Marilyn, that is a hard living 54.. Look at that fool, he looks like he is in his mid-late 60's..... Hell, I am 52 and he looks like he could be old enough to be father to someone my age.... I am glad he did his thing without harming anyone like I said above & you agreed with. The Judge will take that into considerations and rightfully so.. I was in Seattle when the infamous "Hollywood" was robbing banks and he did his thing but he would have shot folks in a heartbeat and he had a crew of cats with him that were all packing. he wound up caught up in a camper in somebody's backyard in North Seattle and popped himself . I believe that if a fool is willing to whack himself, you know he would have no problem whacking the next person......
Hey, Its not that easy....and I really just wanted to show my new picture to the world.Her Name Is Lady..well i thought I was
Florida really produces the criminals, but I guess this one will be out of action for awhile. It was a good run while it lasted.
A little bank robber humor: A guy goes into a bank at 2PM on Tuesday, hands the teller a note ...teller puts money in bag, guy leaves...the following Tuesday at 2PM, the same guy goes up to the same teller...the note now says, "Remember me?"..the teller puts the money in a bag, guy leaves. A true story.
three squares, free medical care, free persciptions, library, movies, T.V. personal body guards, free room and board utilities included. alot to time to catch up on reading, computer time for learning.
Somehow I doubt that prision is the country club you describe.
I am amazed. Roland police caught someone besides a motorist in one of their speed traps.
I'm glad he didn't hurt anyone. That said, I don't care if he stole from banks. They are nothing but thieves themselves, and will remain so until regulation is heaped upon them aplenty.
There's nothing cool about what this guy has done - he hasn't exacted any "revenge" on the banks. If those of you cheering him on want to get your revenge on banks, do so at the voting booths, demand your Congresspersons do more to enact and enforce reform on the banks and Wall Street.
He hasn't been a modern day Robin Hood; he didn't take any of the stolen money and donate any of it to a charity that benefits the poor or disabled - he's just an old punk thief. How many of you would still be cheering him on if he robbed a bank where one of your loved ones worked? Would you still be cheering him on when that loved one was injured or dead? Would you cheer him on when you watch a loved one relive the terror of being robbed night after night? There's nothing romantic about what he's done, and to think otherwise is juvenile at best.
Don't you think he needs a good defense lawyer so they will pretend he had to do this because he was sick and he is really innocent of all charges! Every time we have a big case like Casey Anthoney or Drew Peterson in Illinois I have less and less respect for lawyers. You would think at least they would have some conscience. If someone is innocent they need to go at it with both barrels but most of the time they see the evidence too.
Desperate times + desperate people = desperate acts.
that is just luck because these days i don't see anyone stop at a stop sign anymore. i was thinking i haven't hared the law changed and was going to check on it to see if it did. LOL
This article left out why he's called the bucket list bandit.
Maybe should have been the Simon & Simon bandit instead, since he kinda resembles McRaney.
No, Darr247, it didn't.
"The suspect earned the nickname "Bucket List Bandit" after he allegedly passed a Roy, Utah, bankteller a note on July 6 saying he had only four months to live, the FBI said."
Well, if he only had 4 months to live back in July, then he won't even make it tp trial. Arraignment yes, trial no. If he makes it to trial it'll be "Liar, Liar, pants on fire!" time :).