Teen who robbed bank tried to give the cash away, cops say. Mom says ‘he’s got the mind of a 10- or 12-year-old’

A teen suffering from mental illness is charged with strangling his sister and stealing a car at gunpoint, before ultimately robbing a bank in downtown Bradenton.

It was Julian Jimenez’s behavior after the robbery on Thursday that others found odd and led to his arrest less than an hour later.

A caller to 911 reported that a man was walking down the street and throwing money at people. When deputies responded, Jimenez matched the description of the suspected bank robber and he was detained.

Jimenez, 18, is charged with domestic battery by strangulation, armed carjacking, armed robbery, carrying a firearm without a license and giving false information to law enforcement. He is being held at the Manatee County jail on bonds totaling $1,052,000.

The teen, who was smiling in his jail booking photo, appeared serious and remained silent when he appeared before Circuit Judge Teresa Dees on Friday afternoon for a first appearance hearing.

His mother broke down in tears as she addressed the court.

“My son is mentally unstable and he needs to be under medication,” Gloria Marquez told the judge. “We were trying to have him Baker Acted two weeks ago but he wouldn’t go.”

Marquez explained her son had struggled his whole life with his mental illness. But the devastated mother said she also understood that the court needed to consider the community’s safety.

“He has to be held accountable for what he did,” Marquez said. “I just want the court to know he is not competent. Chronologically he might be 18 years old, but mentally he’s got the mind of a 10- or 12-year-old.”

Jimenez’s criminal history included two arrests for domestic battery in 2013 and 2015, each of which was later dropped, according to a prosecutor. The State Attorney’s Office was requesting that Jimenez be held without bond on the armed carjacking and armed robbery charges, given the seriousness of the allegations and that each of the felonies are punishable by up to life in prison.

A public defender agreed with there being probable cause for the arrest and the serious nature of the charges. However, he argued that a full hearing should be held before Jimenez is held in pretrial detention without bond.

“The allegations are incredibly serious and the number of victims that were affected in this series of events, the court takes very seriously,” Dees said before ruling.

Without hearing from witnesses, Dees said she would not hold Jimenez without bond. She set the bond and ordered that Jimenez have no contact with any of the alleged victims or return to any of the crime scenes.

Outside the courthouse, his mother said Jimenez has been diagnosed with biopolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. While he had been previously treated at Centerstone in the past, he has not been taking his medication and has been abusing other drugs, his mother said.

Marquez recalled a couple weeks ago when Jimenez told her, “pretty soon you won’t have to worry about me anymore.” She feared he would hurt himself and tried to get him to volunteer to be hospitalized but he refused.

Marquez said she regretted not having him forcibly hospitalized under the Baker Act. As a mother, she feared she had failed him. With her son in jail now, and her grandson in foster care as a result of the domestic battery incident, she was determined to make sure her son gets the help he needs.

The domestic battery charge stemmed from an incident between Jimenez and his sister in their family’s home on Tuesday afternoon, the mother explained.

It was after 4 p.m. Tuesday, according to an arrest report, when Jimenez went into his sister’s room and began making noise. His nephew was sleeping, so his sister asked him to keep the noise down so he wouldn’t wake the boy.

After the boy woke, the two siblings began to argue. The argument escalated to yelling, and Jimenez allegedly slapped his sister in the face and threw her onto the floor. She landed on her stomach, the report states, and Jimenez got on top of her, pulled her arms behind her back and began to punch her.

His sister was able to roll over onto her back, according to the charges, and Jimenez placed one of his knees on her ribs, one hand on her throat and began to choke her. Deputies reported seeing and photographing the scratches and swelling on her face, and she agreed to go to the sheriff’s office at a later time to complete a sworn affidavit because she was too upset at that time.

Child protection investigators came to the family’s home the following day and took her grandson into protective care, according to their mother.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Jimenez reached out to a man who sells used cars and had agreed to pay $6,250 for a 2010 Nissan Altima.

Jimenez, calling himself James, agreed to meet the man on Thursday in the 5200 block of 18th Street East. After looking at the car at about 3:30 p.m., the teen claimed he needed to get his money from inside his home but instead came back armed with a handgun.

“Jimenez told (the victim) that he did not wish him harm but he had fallen on hard times and he needed to take his car to go rob a bank,” police wrote in another arrest report.

Jimenez promised not to shoot the victim if he remained calm and handed over his keys. He took the keys and walked the victim over to the car at gunpoint so he could get his personal belongings out of the car.

Just before 4 p.m., Bradenton police began receiving reports of an armed robbery at Florida Central Credit Union, 701 Ninth St. W., Bradenton. Alerts were put out to local law enforcement based on the descriptions provided police by witnesses inside the bank, and to deputies from the carjacking victim.

When deputies responded to another 911 call reporting that a man was walking down the street throwing money at people, Jimenez matched both descriptions. Jimenez, who appeared nervous, told the deputy his name was James Lopez, but he refused a request to be patted down for weapons.

“He told Deputy Kish that he had a wealthy father and he was giving money to the peasants,” the report states.

More sheriff’s deputies and Bradenton police officers responded to the scene where Jimenez was searched and found to be carrying a 9 mm handgun and more than $9,000. Two of the bank employees were brought to the scene and were able to positively identify Jimenez as the robber, according to police.

Later at the Bradenton Police Department, the carjacking victim also identified Jimenez as the man who had taken his car at gunpoint, police reported.

This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Teen who robbed bank tried to give the cash away, cops say. Mom says ‘he’s got the mind of a 10- or 12-year-old’."