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| Aerial view of the federal lockup at Loretto, PA |
Northern
Cambria, PA – If police in this coal mining town named for a
geological period during the Paleozoic era know why Jeffery McMullen became angry when two
tellers thought he was joking about a $1 bank robbery, they aren't
telling.
The
matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation.
The
50-year-old man is a regular customer at the AmericaServ branch,
where he penned a note and handed it to a teller.
He demanded that federal agents take him into custody and said he preferred to be imprisoned in a federal penitentiary at Loretto, Pennsylvania.
“FBI
custody. Preferbly (sic) Loretto Pa. No press. Seal all files.”
The
federal correctional facility at Loretto, Pa., is described by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons as a minimum security
prison located in the southwestern part of the state between Altoona and Johnstown, about 90 miles east of Pittsburgh.
The
lady thought he was joking. She told him to go to the next teller at
the counter. Angered, he attempted to grab money from the cash drawer
when the second teller also thought he was joking.
According
to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Sgt. Isaac Hassen, “He
told her he would wait until police arrived.”
The
teller told him she was confused, that she couldn't figure out what
he wanted her to do. The officer alleged Mr. McMullen demanded $1,
and that if she complied, no one would be hurt.
A
third employee, this one a new accounts specialist, gave Mr. McMullen
a one dollar bill she took from her purse.
As
a result of all this drama, he is charged with three separate counts
of bank robbery.
The
affidavit of probable cause is a record of a court proceeding, and is
thus a matter of public information. So is the offense report and the
report of Mr. McMullen's arrest.
At
his arraignment, District Judge Michael Zungali ordered a mental exam
for Mr. McMullen and set his bond at $50,000. He has scheduled a
preliminary hearing, but noted it may be postponed pending the mental
examination.
A
report in the Johnstown “Tribune-Democrat” noted that according
to on-line records, Mr. McMullen has never before been arrested. The
warden of the County Prison said he has never been locked up there.
Witness
statements, the results of the mental exam, and other “work
product” of the investigation into why Mr. McMullen requested his
arrest by FBI agents are unavailable to the public, as are
fingerprint comparisons, ballistic reports, chemical analyses, and
records of polygraph examinations.
According
to “The Old Farmer's Almanac,” the next occurrence of a full moon
in October of 2012, which in Indian lore is known as The Full
Hunter's Moon, the Travel Moon, and the Dying Grass Moon, will occur
on October 29 at 3:49 p.m.
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