A 74-year-old Villager has been arrested after allegedly attempting to rob a local bank claiming he had been “cut off” by Social Security.
Joseph Vincent Albanese, who lives at 1861 W. Schwartz Blvd. on the Historic Side of The Villages, walked into the Wells Fargo bank on U.S. Hwy. 441 in Lady Lake at about noon Monday and slipped a pre-written note to a bank teller, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The bank teller removed $700 in cash from her drawer and placed it into a pillow case carried in by Albanese.
He “kept apologizing” and sat down in the main lobby area. Bank employees quickly evacuated customers out of the lobby.
When deputies arrived at the bank, Albanese was still sitting in the lobby. He said Social Security just “cut him off.”
The Newark, N.J. native was arrested on a charge of robbery. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $30,000 bond.
