The teenager who robbed a Fayetteville bank last year pleaded guilty to a lesser charge Wednesday in Washington County, according to county officials.
Zachary Porter, 18, reached a deal with prosecutors, in which he agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of robbery. He had been charged with felony aggravated robbery and terroristic threatening, according to court records.
Porter pleaded not guilty in November to robbing the Metropolitan National Bank on Wedington Drive in Fayetteville the previous month. Officers were told a man walked into the bank and handed the teller a note implying he had a bomb, according to Fayetteville police.
Investigators said the suspect fled with an undisclosed amount of cash and was later caught by police on Persimmon Street. No one was hurt in the incident, and police did not find a bomb in the bank, said Sgt. Craig Stout, police spokesman.
Porter was jailed in the Washington County Detention Center, and his bond was set at $50,000, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Police said Porter told them he needed money for rent. But Porter’s roommate said he does not buy that.
“I know he is supposed to pay us $150 every two weeks, and it is coming up where he is to do one payment,” roommate Marty White said. “But, I did tell him as long as he had a job, we would take care of the bills till the 1st and he could just give it to us in full with his first check.”
White said Porter had a job interview scheduled at a Taco Bell the day after the bank incident.
“He just turned 18. He’s still a kid. He is young and dumb and he ruined his life.”
