The Biggest Bank Robbery Florida Has Ever Seen

Ever dreamed about robbing a bank and actually getting away with it? I have, but just know I would never act on this in real life! I had to give that disclaimer before the FBI show's up to my house in St. Petersburg (lol). In 1997, a man in Jacksonville robbed a bank for $18.8M, making it the biggest bank robbery Florida has ever seen! He was actually on the run for 5 months until he got caught. How was Philip Johnson able to pull this off? This incident could be turned into a movie!

In 1997, Philip Noel Johnson who was working as an armored truck driver for Wells Fargo was tired of only making $7 an hour. 10 years prior to that he took the job and it was only supposed to be temporary. An angry Johnson came up with a plan that would retire him from his life of working for minimal wages. On March 29th of that year while Johnson was assisting two other drivers in processing a cash load, he decided to put his plan into action.

Out of nowhere Johnson pulled his gun and ordered both of his coworkers to lie down. He then handcuffed them and started loading canvas bags of cash into the van. He took no coins only unmarked, nonsequential bills. He apparently only wanted $10 bills or higher. Before he made his exit, he pulled his file from the Loomis Fargo company records.

Johnson stopped by his house before getting on the road and handcuffed one of his coworkers to a pipe in his closet, the other coworker was handcuffed to a small tree somewhere in North Carolina. While in North Carolina, Johnson also offloaded some cash and abandoned the van he was driving. Both guards were eventually found safe. Johnson however was still on the run.

While police were at Johnsons house in Jacksonville, they found evidence that he was planning this robbery for 5 years. The FBI eventually found out Johnson was living in Mexico. Johnson was on the run for 5 months but was eventually arrested in Texas while on a bus back from Mexico. He had over $10K cash on him at the time.

According to the FBI, they were able to recover almost all of the stolen cash which he had hidden in a North Caroline storage facility. $186K of it was missing, but that's not a big deal seeing that he got away with $18.8M. In 1999, Johnson plead guilty to money laundering, kidnapping and interfering with interstate commerce with violence. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. In 2019 he was released but his whereabouts are unknown.

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I moved to St. Petersburg in 2019 and I must say, living in the Sunshine State has been fun! I have never gotten in trouble with the law but many of my friends have. The warm weather seems to have an impact on people and it's not always good! Every day there is a "Florida Man/Woman" headline in the news.  Many of the stories are funny but sadly always involve crimes being committed.

According to the Florida Department Of Corrections, there are 143 correctional facilities throughout the state. Have you ever been to any of them? What were you locked up for and for how long? I know, Im asking a lot of questions right?  I love hearing prison stories. Feel free to email me babs@wild941.com . If I share your story, I will keep you anonymous.

According to Prison Policy, The United States locks up more people per capita than any other nation. Basically that is 583 people per 100k residents.  There are currently over 1M people locked up in state prisons. When it comes to local jails there are currently 550K people locked up. Lastly in federal prisons and jails there are 208K people locked up.

Ok, so before looking below, what do you think is the most committed crime in Florida? I pretty much committed this crime, but I was able to get help before it was to late. No, I was not a  dealer but an addicted, and rehab was the best thing that ever happened to me. Have any ideas what it is yet? Many of us have fell victim to this crime or know someone who has.

Below  you will find the most committed crime in Florida. I have also included 4 other of the most committed crimes as well. This is according to research done by the Murphy's And Downs Law Offices.

According to the FBI, 30% of arrest in Florida are due to drug crimes. Drug offenses consist of anything from trafficking to possession. The amount of drugs you are caught with will affect the charge and the sentence.

There is a theft committed every minute in Florida. This is all according to Florida Department Of Law Enforcement.

Assault is the 3rd most committed crime in Florida.  Even a threat of bodily harm made with an apparent ability to cause the harm is considered assault. The threat however must cause a fear of of injury.

DUI is the 4th most committed crime in Florida. You must have a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher for you to be impaired. The penalties are determined by many factors such as how many times you've gotten a DUI also death/injuries or property damage caused by the driving.

 According to the Florida Department Of Law Enforcement an aggravated assault happens every nine minutes in Florida.