Man Accepts Five-Year Plea Deal In Failed March Bank Robbery

A man suspected of attempting to rob a Brooksville bank earlier this year accepted a five-year prison sentence on Thursday.

Michael Pride, 48, was arrested March 5, the same day investigators say he forced an employee to let him into a CenterState Bank before it opened for business.

Pride reached into his sports coat toward his waistband, leading the victim to believe he was armed, an affidavit states.

Once inside the bank, Pride instructed the victim to lead him to the vault, but she claimed she was not authorized to open it. Pride then told her to drop her purse and show him the bank's rear exit, before locking her in the bathroom, according to the affidavit.

The victim could identify Pride as the suspect because she had seen him sitting at a bus stop outside the bank at 704 S. Broad St. for the past six months, the affidavit states. Police say they found Pride at his home, 385 Union St., along with the victim's wallet and a silver pellet gun.

In circuit court Thursday, Judge Jack Springstead reminded Pride that his admission to the local charges could be considered evidence if federal prosecutors decided to charge him for the attempted bank robbery.

Prosecutor Rob Lewis said his office has not been contacted by the U.S. Attorney's Office about this case.

In other court news:

• A Brooksville man wrapped up four criminal cases against him by accepting a plea bargain for three years in prison. The charges against David Cole, 34, stem from March 12, when a man Cole admitted he "does not like" pulled up outside his property at 14310 Lelani Drive. Cole grabbed a .380 caliber handgun from his nightstand and fired two shots into the driveway to scare away the victim, Fred Paetzke, a report states.

When that didn't work, Cole set the gun on the ground and began a heated argument that ended in blows, a report states. Paetzke was pulled over by a deputy responding to the Lelani address and arrested after a loaded gun and methamphetamine was found in Paetzke's car, a report shows.

Cole was charged with aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a stolen firearm and battery.

On July 7, Cole kicked in his ex-girlfriend's door and struck her several times in the head, according to a report. Cole left in a pickup truck before authorities arrived, but was captured after a police pursuit that ended in Brooksville City Hall parking lot, a report shows.

He was charged with fleeing to elude, burglary of a structure and possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

• The trial for a 48-year-old man accused of initiating a sexual relationship with a teenage girl has been delayed.

Bill Plowman faces nine lewd and lascivious battery charges after he reportedly wrote graphic love letters to a 14-year-old girl and took photographs of their trysts. His defense attorneys have questioned the reliability of that evidence.

Plowman was scheduled for trial Monday, but his attorney requested more time so that his client could be mentally evaluated and for two other "possibly exculpatory" witnesses to be deposed. Another pre-trial date was set for Nov. 21.