A man in St. Petersburg, FL., was inquiring about a negative balance in his Bank of America account; the man decided that the best way to overcome the problem was to rob the bank.

BayNews9 reports that James Patrick Andrews, 43, entered the branch last Friday morning and tried to use his ATM card in the bank. When he learned there was no money in his account, police said, he approached a teller and asked her why.

According to the arrest report, Andrews then passed a note to the teller demanding $1,000. He told her not to walk away from her window or press any alarm button or people in the lobby would be hurt. No weapon was implied or seen, police said.

The teller complied, and Andrews left the bank with an undisclosed amount of money and got into a Hyundai Sonata driven by another man, the report said.

Police pulled over the car about an hour later at 38th Avenue North and 34th Street and found it occupied by a woman and her three children. The woman was questioned and said her boyfriend had used the car earlier to give Andrews a ride to the bank, police said.

According to the report, Andrews admitted to the robbery and said he needed the money to pay a drug debt. He was charged with strong-arm robbery and possession of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia.