Lawrence Ripple, a 70-year-old man who was accused of robbing a Kansas bank and told investigators that he’d rather be imprisoned than with his wife, has confessed to carrying out the robbery.
Ripple pleaded guilty in Kansas City, Kansas to a federal bank robbery count and faces up to 20 years in prison for robbing the Bank of Labor at 756 Minnesota Ave.
Ripple did not have a plea deal and the judge will set a sentencing date after a pre-sentencing investigation.
Via KansasCity.com
The robbery was captured on bank surveillance video that showed Ripple hand a note to a teller. The note read, “I have a gun, give me money,” according to court documents. The teller handed over $2,924, but instead of fleeing, Ripple sat down in the bank lobby.
When a bank security guard approached him, Ripple told the guard that he was the person the guard was looking for, according to the documents. The guard took Ripple into custody and recovered the money that had just been taken.
Later, when questioned by police and FBI agents, Ripple said that he and his wife had an argument earlier in the day and he said he “no longer wanted to be in that situation,” according to the affidavit filed to support the bank robbery charge.
Ripple said he wrote out his robbery note in front of his wife and told her he would rather be in jail than at home. He then strolled over to the bank and committed the robbery.
While I may not be the biggest fan of armed robbery, you have to give the man this: Lawrence Ripple is a man of conviction who knows what he wants and is willing to do whatever it takes to get it. If the only way to get away from his nagging wife is to stick up a local bank, so be it.
