Bank robber arrested 147 times! www.privateofficer.com

Fort Meyers Fla. June 29 2008

William Singletary has had at least 24 mug shots snapped at Lee County Jail.

Since 1985, jail doors have been revolving for the 44-year-old, accused over the years of at least 147 offenses, according to court records.
So when authorities captured him Friday, accused of committing a bank burglary while out on $38,500 bail for 12 others, it wasn’t exactly shocking.
Sgt. Larry King, spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said deputies are used to seeing the same names inked in the booking sheets.
“But it’s usually more so after the sentencing phase that they will be released, reoffend and come back,” he said.
“You just hope bond is set so they won’t go out and do it again.”
Singletary’s bond for the latest offense was automatically set at $3,000 Friday, but then he appeared in front of a judge and was denied the chance to get out again before trial.
Lee Circuit Judge Thomas Reese, overseeing Singletary’s most recent cases, was not available for comment Friday. The listed number for Singletary’s only current listed attorney, Cortes Rebecca Acosta, was disconnected, as was the last known number for Singletary’s residence. Both bail bonds companies that combined efforts to have him released declined to comment Friday.
Singletary’s most recently attempted heist, according to deputy Martin Cook, targeted the Royal Palm Bank on Winkler Road in Fort Myers. The method mirrored that of previous break-ins: enter at night, grab whatever is within reach and bolt.
At Royal Palm, it was an alarm that attracted the attention of deputies, who found a window smashed and $655 in rolled coins missing.

A witness saw a man fitting Singletary’s description fleeing the area in a truck, and deputies found him a short while later, his vehicle loaded up with 33 pounds of coins hidden in a small, metal trash can, which deputies say also was stolen.
His month of freedom had ended.

He is still awaiting trial on accusations of burglarizing six banks in Bonita, five in Fort Myers and one in Estero. Each was said to have been committed between Feb. 15 and Feb. 27 – six were done in one night. Of those, detectives said, he gained access to only one, taking with him several hundred dollars in rolled coins.
Representatives from the banks either declined to comment or did not return calls.
The state attorney’s office is consolidating several of his charges so all his individual cases won’t bog down the courts.

Get news alerts, officer down, weather emergency news in your mailbox! Sign up;adminassist@privateofficer.com

Join us at www.myspace.com/privateofficernews

Come be part of our social network! www.privateofficer.com