Man can’t get money from an ATM so he robs the bank
Story from “This is True” by Randy Cassingham, with his “tagline:”
“Overdrawn on Intelligence: James Andrews, 43, tried to use the ATM at his bank in St. Petersburg, Fla. When the ATM said he had no money in his account, he went inside to find out why. After the teller said he had a negative balance, Andrews allegedly passed a note to the teller demanding $1,000. The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of money, and Andrews left. When police found the getaway car, they discovered it was owned by a friend who claimed he gave Andrews a ride to the bank, but didn’t know he had robbed it. Police were quickly able to track Andrews down and arrest him on charges of strong-arm robbery, and possession of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia. Andrews allegedly told police he needed the money to pay off a drug debt. (MS/Bay News 9) …That last sentence explains everything before it.”
Randy, once again, gets it. If there is alcohol/other-drug addiction, nearly all the misbehaviors in which a person engages are symptoms of underlying addiction.
On a number of occasions, I’ve mentioned that stories of tragedy would do more to inform the unaware of the role of addiction in creating the tragedy if they began with, “John was an alcoholic. Here’s how his addiction ruined others’ lives….” This story, for example, “should” have read (with some made up “facts” for dramatic impact and because they would fit the profile): “James Andrews, 43, is an addict whose drug of choice is crack cocaine. His addiction is costly, worse since he often no sooner gets a job than he is fired and has an ex-girlfriend to whom he owes child support. In his yet latest gambit to steal funds for his drugs, he conned a ‘friend’ into giving him a ride to the bank and then, according to the friend, lending him the car (which doesn’t exactly comport with the story, but the friend could be an addict too and, well, try getting a story straight from two addicts). After trying to access funds via the ATM at his bank and finding he had no money in his account, he went into the bank, confirmed he had a negative balance and then demanded $1,000 from a bank teller. Police tracked him down after finding the ‘friend’s’ getaway car. After scaring the bejeezus out of a bank teller and God knows how many motorists, Andrews was charged with strong-arm robbery and possession of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia.”
(Story and tagline from “This is True,” copyright 2013 by Randy Cassingham, used with permission. If you haven’t already subscribed to his newsletter—the free one at least, or the paid one I get, with more than twice the stories—I highly recommend it: www.ThisIsTrue.com.)