A 70-year-old man has been charged with robbing a bank in Kansas City for a reason anyone would find unreasonable, but not for him. He sat down, thought of the consequences of engaging in robbery, weighed the option of living with an ill-tempered wife, before visiting the bank with a gun.
Thank God he wasn’t shot dead by the security agents.
Image shows Mr Lawrence J. Ripple Wyandotte (Source: County Sheriff’s Office).
Pleading guilty as charged, the man revealed his wife has made home so inhabitable for him that he prefers going to jail.
In his thinking, anywhere away from home would be just fine. No regrets.
Lawrence John Ripple said he prefers a jail cell for the quietness and peace of mind, instead of putting up with his nagging and ruthless wife.
The suspect has been charged in federal court Friday afternoon for robbing the Bank of Labor at 756 Minnesota Ave.
According to court documents, Ripple handed a teller a note that read, “I have a gun, give me money.
“The teller complied.
“But instead of fleeing, Ripple took the money and then took a seat in the bank lobby,” according to the documents.
A short time after the “robbery incident”, a bank security guard approached him with caution, thinking John Ripple actually had a gun.
Surprisingly, the suspect told the guard, “I’m the guy you’re looking for.”
According to the report, the bank security guard collected all the cash given to him. The 70-year-old was also held in custody until police arrived, which wasn’t long, because Kansas City, Kan., police headquarters is on the same block.
When he was questioned later by investigators, Ripple told him that he and his wife had argued and he “no longer wanted to be in that situation,” according to the documents.
“Ripple wrote out his demand note in front of his wife … and told her he’d rather be in jail than at home,” an FBI agent wrote in the affidavit filed in support of the robbery charge.
