A Waterville man who robbed the Bangor Savings Bank branch in Waterville, only to fall on the ice while fleeing and drop the cash and the BB gun he had brandished in front of a police officer, pleaded guilty to robbery and theft charges Thursday in court.
Jason M. Mackenrodt, 37, was sentenced to five years in prison.
Mackenrodt, according to Waterville police, brandished what police later determined was a BB gun in the bank, and he fled with more than $10,000 in cash in the Feb. 12 incident.
He then ran across four lanes of traffic on Main Street and into the parking lot of the Ming Lee restaurant, where he slipped on the ice and fell, dropping the money and the BB gun out of his jacket, according to Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey.
Meanwhile, Glenn Lang, a special agent with the Maine State Computer Crimes Task Force, just happened to be parked in that same parking lot. He didn’t know there had been a bank robbery but was suspicious of the scene unfolding in front of him. He got out of his vehicle and tackled Mackenrodt as some passers-by started to scoop up some of the dropped cash.
Both the theft and robbery charges are class B felonies, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Mackenrodt’s sentence was for five years.
His attorney, Brad Grant, said Mackenrodt took responsibility for the crime, noting “He was apologetic to the (bank) clerk, and he came in as quickly as possible to plead guilty.”
Mackenrodt, who was indicted last week, also was sentenced to a year and 11 months in prison, to be served concurrently with the five-year sentence, as part of revocation of his probation. He was on probation for burglary, and violated the terms of that probation by robbing the bank.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Madigan said Mackenrodt was in possession of heroin at the time of his arrest.
Grant sought to delay the start of Mackenrodt’s sentence to give him time to get his belongings out of a Fairfield apartment he had shared with his girlfriend, who he said has been arrested. Justice Joseph Jabar denied the request, and Mackenrodt was taken from the courthouse to jail to begin serving his sentence.
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