MANATEE — A 30-year-old Sarasota man was arrested in a wooded area after he allegedly robbed a bank Friday afternoon, according to officials at Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Andrew J. Huddleston, 30, allegedly drove a tan Ford Ranger and parked it behind a shopping center before going into the Bank of America, 7223 55th Ave. E., in the Tara Twelve Oaks Shopping Center near Interstate 75 and State Road 70.
Huddleston, who wasn’t wearing gloves, is suspected of demanding money before stuffing it in a leather day-planner organizer. He implied he had a weapon when talking to the tellers at about 2 p.m., said Lt. Robert Mealy at the scene.
Witnesses told deputies they saw Huddleston riding a bike in the shopping center while clutching the day planner. The dye pack exploded, causing the bag to smoke.
A red stain slightly bigger than a golf ball discolored the pavement in the parking area between the bank and the pickup.
A bystander later found the day planner near his car and out of curiosity picked the planner up, said Dylan Coons, manager at KD’s Oceans & Reefs inside the shopping center.
The man placed the planner containing a thick pile of red stained cash outside the store’s doorway. He walked into KD’s with red dye staining his hands and said, “We need to call the cops,” Coons said. “I thought he had been stabbed. He had red on his hands and had a shocked expression on his face.”
After dropping the planner, Huddleston reportedly went behind the strip mall before going behind Publix into a wooded area.
A jail deputy, who was listening to the radio, heard Huddleston’s description. He was described as wearing a brown wig, white hat, blue shirt and blue pants, Mealy said.
The deputy saw Huddleston walking into the woods.
A sheriff’s dog found Huddleston in seconds hunkered down in a ditch, Mealy said. The dog bit Huddleston’s arm about 26 minutes after the heist. He was treated at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center.
Huddleston made spontaneous statements about robbing the bank to investigators, Mealy said.
Tire tracks were found in the woods, but investigators found no bike. It’s possible the bike was placed in a nearby pond, investigators said.
After Huddleston told authorities about the pickup, Mealy saw the tan Ford Ranger with a green top driving away from behind Gecko’s. He radioed the description.
“Someone should be able to catch it before it pulls out,” Mealy said.
Sgt. Rick Gerken pulled the truck over just as it was leaving the shopping plaza. The driver was Huddleston’s brother, who was questioned and released at the scene, Mealy said.
Andrew Huddleston told investigators he robbed the bank because he recently lost his job as a plumber, said Manatee Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Dave Bristow. He told them he needed the money.
Huddleston was serving a two-year felony probation sentence for drug possession in Sarasota, according to the Department of Corrections Web site. His family members embraced each other after a neighbor dropped them off at the scene.
Linda Bryant, a neighbor, said the family has been struggling to make ends meet.
“He went off the deep end. I don’t know why he did it,” she said.
Bryant, who has known the family for about three months, said Huddleston made statements about how he was going to rob a bank.
“It’s all with the economy and stress,” she said.
As unemployment rates have increased, so have the number of bank robberies in Manatee County. Unemployment jumped from 4.5 percent in January 2008 to 8.2 in December. In March, it hit 11 percent.
In 2007, there were 15 bank robberies in Manatee County. In 2008, that number doubled. There were two bank robberies this week bringing the total to 14 bank robberies in Manatee County, including two attempts in 2009.
Beth Burger, criminal justice reporter, can be reached at 708-7919.
Email Story
Printer Friendly 
Quick Job Search
@Nyx.replyAnswerText@