Get this – Lawrence John Ripple, a pensioner from Kansas, robbed a bank just to get away from his wife! And guess what? He actually got a house arrest sentence for it. Talk about desperate measures!
The whole situation is pretty wild. Apparently, Lawrence just had enough of his wife and decided to rob a bank as a way to get some time away from her. Can you imagine?
Lawrence John Ripple, 70, walked into the Bank of Labor just down the street from police headquarters in Kansas City with a note demanding money and that he had a gun.
He had written the note at home in front of his wife after telling her he would “rather be in jail than at home,” the Kansas City Star reported.
After the teller handed him nearly $3,000 in cash, Mr Ripple waited in the lobby for police to arrive.
Mr Ripple had multiple bypass heart surgery in 2015 and suffered from depression that, according to lawyers, went undiagnosed.
Prior to the robbery, he lived a normal, law-abiding life as a husband and stepfather to four children. His public defender called the robbery a “cry for help”.
At the sentencing trial Mr Ripple said he had sought medical help for his mental health and said he “feel[s] like his old self”.
The vice president of the bank and the teller both supported a request for leniency for Mr Ripple given his mental health state. It is incredibly rare for someone who commits a bank robbery not to be sentenced to prison and Mr Ripple’s sentence could have faced up to 37 months per local law.
He will also serve three years of supervised probation and must do 50 hours of community service. Mr Ripple was ordered to pay $227.27 to the bank, which represents the billable hours for bank employees sent home on the day of robbery. He is also required to give $100 to a crime victims fund.
Well, needless to say, he got caught pretty quickly and got stuck at home on house arrest for six months. I guess that’s one way to get some alone time, right? Life lesson: if you’re feeling overwhelmed, maybe just go for a walk instead of robbing a bank.
