Somewhere, someone is lamenting the one that got away.

A creative angler tried fishing for a bank deposit bag from a night drop slot Friday morning, police say.

“It’s under investigation,” said Capt. Ed Conner of the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety. “We’ll be looking at the evidence to see if we can put a face with the image on video.”

Employees of the First Citizen’s Bank on Columbia Road told investigators that when they retrieved the night deposit bags from Thursday’s drops, they discovered one bag sported a fishing hook. Some fishing line dangled from the hook.

Two more hooks were found in the deposit box along with a putty-like substance that may have been used in lieu of a fishing weight, investigators say.

The bank’s security tape shows an individual outside the bank at about 4:29 a.m. Friday.

Police say they’ve seen about everything else. But fishing in a deposit drop slot is a new one.

“This is my first with fishing hooks, definitely my first,” said lead investigator Lt. Becky Whitman.

Police say it may not be obvious to some, but a night deposit drop slot is not a good place for fishing.

“The security mechanisms at the bank’s night deposit drop ... it’s impossible for someone to retrieve a bag,” Conner said. “In other words, you can’t go fishing for a night deposit bag.”

No bags are believed to have been reeled out.

However, it is still a crime, and a federal one at that, Conner said. Police ask that you call them at 803-534-2812 if you know the identity of the angler.

LINK TO PHOTO

http://www.timesanddemocrat.com/articles/2010/03/31/news/doc4bb28b1e4aec7913713205.txt