He knew he was going to jail for ‘stealing Bank of America,’ Florida Keys deputies say

A routine DUI stop last Friday in the Florida Keys netted a man wanted for four years on multiple grand theft charges and accusations he used someone else’s identity to withdraw money from local banks.

The man, Robert Brian Noel, 50, told deputies he knew he going to jail when he was stopped in the Middle Keys city of Marathon around 10:30 that night. When deputies asked him why, according to the arrest report, he replied: For “stealing Bank of America.”

On Tuesday night, he was in county jail on a combined bond of $155,500.

According to the Monroe County Seriff’s Office, Noel stole a wallet belonging to a man from whom he rented a room in Grassy Key while the man was in a Miami-Dade County hospital in November 2016.

While the man was away, Noel used the man’s ATM card multiple times at supermarkets, gas stations and pharmacies.

When the man returned home, he found he had a negative checking account balance when he should have had more than $3,000 in the bank, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies were able to identify Noel as the person who used the ATM card after showing security camera images to several people who knew him, including the victim, deputies say.

However, by the time detectives received a warrant for his arrest, Noel disappeared. It’s not clear if he skipped town and somehow was able to stay below the radar for four years, or if he left the Keys.

According to the arrest report, deputies pulled over Noel, who was driving a Volvo, for speeding, failing to yield to oncoming traffic and having a defective exhaust pipe. They also discovered Noel’s driver’s license was suspended in 2016.

Deputies say he failed several field sobriety tests. They said he smelled like alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. He refused to take a blood alcohol breath test, according to his arrest report.