Man robs bank so he can receive health care
Richard James Verone`s robbery of a North Carolina bank earlier this month wasn`t the most traditional of hold ups. He didn`t approach the teller in a ski-mask and neglected to bring a weapon, a get-away driver or a gun.
Instead, Verone entered the scene of the crime with two ruptured disks, a growth on his chest and a note demanding a single dollar bill.
Verone says he needed a doctor and prison-provided health care was his only option.
After handing a teller a note that read "This is a bank robbery and I need medical attention," Verone headed away from the banker and awaited authorities.
"I started to walk away from the teller, then I went back and said, `I`ll be sitting right over there in the chair waiting for the police,`" Verone tells North Carolina TV station 9News.
With growing medical problems and little money to his name, the 59-year-old Gastonia, NC native says he weighed his options and the June 9 "hold-up" seemed like the best way to better health.
"I`m sort of a logical person and that was my logic," he told reporters after.
Verone worked for Coca-Cola for nearly two decades and transitioned to a truck driver three years ago. After ending up jobless, Verone resorted to a part-time position as a convenience store clerk, but as his ailments added up, he knew cashing out customers for a few hours a week wouldn`t put enough money in his checkbook to get checked out by doctors.
"The pain was beyond the tolerance that I could accept," he tells the Gaston Gazette. "I kind of hit a brick wall with everything."
"If you don`t have your health you don`t have anything."
Verone figured that a bank robbery would get him locked up long enough to collect Social Security benefits upon his release. In the meantime, he anticipates being treated by physicians for his conditions; ideally he hopes for back and foot surgery, as well as a diagnosis for the protrusion on his chest.
"If it is called manipulation, then out of necessity because I need medical care, then I guess I am manipulating the courts to get medical care," he tells reporters.
Because he only asked for a buck, though, Verone has been charged with larceny from a person, which, while still a felony, might not keep him locked up for too long. He tells the Gazette, however, that he will do it again if he has to.
Verone`s bond has been reduced from $100,000 to $2,000 in his week behind bars. When he eventually ends up in front of a judge, he intends on representing himself.
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