Southfield police: 12-year-old broke into bank

Boy questioned, released after break-in at Bank of American on Greenfield

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – A 12-year-old boy is accused of breaking into a Bank of America in Southfield early Friday morning.

Police said the 12-year-old boy rode his bike to the bank on Greenfield Road and used a brick to shatter the front door.

The bank's security company could see the boy on surveillance video walking around the bank at about 3 a.m. and called police.

Police discovered stacks of money on top of a file cabinet when they arrested a boy inside the bank.

Police said the boy broke into some teller drawers and took rolled coins and miscellaneous cash from a teller's drawer.

The mother of the boy found inside the bank spoke to police but they would not release him to her

Sources tell Local 4 that the boy first told police he was 8 years old, but gave police a birth date that would have made him 9 years old. Police then determined he was 12 years old.

The boy also kept asking police about the snacks -- Funyuns and chocolate milk -- he had taken to the bank with him.

The boy was picked up at the Southfield Police Department by his mother. She declined to comment to Local 4.

No charges have been filed yet.

Local 4 has learned that the boy is expected to go through psychological testing.

Statement from Bank of America:

"We have security measures in place and take any attempted burglary  to our banking centers seriously. This is an unfortunate incident and we are cooperating with local law enforcement."
Diane J. Wagner
SVP, Media Relations
Bank of America

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Police escort young man out of the Bank of America in Southfield after he was discovered inside about 3:45am Friday morning.