Man sentenced for trying to steal thousands of dollars in bank parking lot

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A former employee of a landscaping business is going to prison after he tried to steal thousands of dollars in a bank parking lot.

Justin Lee Foy, 27, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon.

In May of 2023, an employee of Paradise Landscaping withdrew $21,000 in cash from the company’s bank account at First Bank on South College Road. The money was going to pay the salary of employees.

But in the bank parking lot, Foy, who used to be employed by a different landscaping company under the same ownership as Paradise Landscaping, approached the employee with a knife and told him to ‘give him the money.’ The employee refused and the two began to struggle.

An off-duty bank employee was in their vehicle and began honking the horn and yelling for help.

Foy ran off without the cash. The employee had minor injuries.

Judge Frank Jones of New Hanover County sentenced Foy to a total of 55 months minimum and 78 months maximum in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.