Police in the city of DeLand, Florida were called by employees of the Florida Credit Union with reports of a robbery in progress on February 2, 2022. According to witnesses at the bank, someone wearing a Sonic the Hedgehog mask was demanding money while threatening tellers with a hammer.
Sonic attempted to break a security window protecting the tellers while repeatedly asking for cash and brandishing a hammer. When a worker at the bank intervened, Sonic finally stepped back from the till before escaping on foot. Police arrived shortly afterwards. While nobody was hurt in the incident, Sonic managed to flee the scene in a flash. The suspect however left empty handed.
“When officers arrived on scene, contact was made with witnesses who stated that a subject wearing a Sonic the Hedgehog mask entered the bank displaying a hammer and demanding money from the teller,” the incident report reads. “While demanding cash from the teller, the suspect then struck the teller’s window with the hammer as he continued with his demands. After being confronted by a bank employee, the suspect fled the location on foot.”
Assistant Vice President of Branch Operations at the Florida Credit Union Brian Leatherman said that “everybody is safe, nothing was taken, and local police are on it.”
Police went about searching the neighborhood for any sign of Sonic, but no trace of the suspect has yet been found. The incident remains under investigation and residents are being asked to report anything strange or suspicious.
“The suspect was last observed wearing a black hoodie, black pants, carrying a black or gray backpack or duffle bag, and a mask resembling Sonic the Hedgehog,” the incident report notes.
While similar events have taken place across the United States, few incidents have come to the attention of the public on account of privacy laws. Florida is one of the few states to make incident reports freely available. The state passed a piece of legislation called the Sunshine Law in 1995 which gives nearly unrestricted access to government records.