IOWA CITY – This transient Iowa man decided to rob a bank in the middle of downtown in this bustling college community and after he was instantly busted, told cops he did it so he could go to prison.
According to an arrest record, at 2:19 PM, Friday, January 17, 2025, 39-year-old Nickoles Julio Deherrera of Iowa City walked into Wells Fargo Bank, 103 E College Street, in Iowa City.
The suspect handed a note to the teller, which told the teller to hand over cash, and threatened the teller if he did not follow demands, he would not go home tonight. The defendant pulled up his shirt, displaying the wooden handle of a replica black powder military style revolver. The teller complied with the suspects’s demands, and handed him approximately $1,000 in various denominations.
After Deherrera left the bank, he was soon after located by the Iowa City Police Department at the nearby Iowa City Public Library and taken into custody.
Police say the suspect is captured on surveillance video throughout Iowa City, before, during and after the robbery. The defendant told an ICPD uniformed officer in the days prior to the robbery, he wanted to commit a bank robbery so he could go to prison.
As a result of the investigation, Deherrera (pictured at top) has been charged with felony first-degree robbery.
This incident remains under investigation by the Iowa City Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation.