A Bottle of Faygo Helped End a Michigan Bank Standoff

Of all the ways a tense hostage situation could end, few would guess the hero would be a bottle of Faygo Red Pop.

But that’s exactly what happened in Saginaw Township, where a standoff at a local bank ended not with a bang, but with a (soda) pop.

It all started just after 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 27, when 31-year-old Quinton Allen of Detroit entered the Mercantile Bank on State Street.

The branch had already closed for the day, but Allen managed to gain access and found a lone employee.

After attempting to cash a fraudulent check and being told there was no cash available, things started to escalate. Police say Allen attacked the woman and held her hostage with a sharp object.

A massive law enforcement response quickly descended on one of Saginaw’s busiest commercial stretches, shutting down a half-mile of traffic and drawing crowds of onlookers.

As the standoff stretched into the night, negotiators worked to keep things calm. That’s when Allen made a purely Michigan request: he wanted a Faygo Red Pop.

Michigan State Police attached a bottle of the red soda to a drone and flew it toward the bank window.

When Allen stepped into view to retrieve the drink, a state trooper stationed on a nearby rooftop took the shot that ended the standoff. The hostage was safely rescued and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

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Unfortunately Allen died at the scene, and didn’t get to enjoy his pop. While the situation was tragic, the surreal use of a drone and a bottle of Faygo in a life-or-death moment is something that could only happen here in Michigan.

So maybe it’s time they changed the slogan to Faygo: the unofficial hero none of us saw coming.