Bank robber tosses cash in the air, saying ‘Merry Christmas’

A bank robber apparently got in the holiday spirit after holding up a bank in downtown Colorado Springs on Monday just after lunchtime. “He robbed the bank, came out, threw the money all over the place,” witness Dion Pascale told CBS Colorado Springs affiliate KKTV.

Police said the suspect, later identified as David Wayne Oliver, 65, walked into an Academy Bank branch, claimed to have a weapon in his pocket and took cash from a teller. Police haven’t confirmed what happened after he left, but Pascale said the man “started throwing money out of the bag and then said, ‘Merry Christmas!”

He was “throwing it behind him,” Pascale said, “because the guy was right on his tail. What else can you do but get rid of it?” It was unclear who was following the suspect but the man had been in the bank and followed the suspect outside.

Bystanders started scooping up the cash and returned it to the teller, Pascale added. But it apparently wasn’t much — the bills were mostly ones and fives.

After tossing the money, the suspect walked down the street to a Starbucks and sat down as if waiting for police. “It was almost like he wanted it (an arrest) to happen,” Parscale said.

Oliver was taken into custody a short time later. He was being held on a $10,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon.