A 71-year-old Kansas City man was in court this week to be sentenced on bank robbery charges stemming from an incident last fall. Back in September, Lawrence Ripple walked into the Bank of Labor and handed a teller a note reading, “I have a gun, give me money.” After the employee gave him nearly $3000, things got interesting. Instead of making his get away, he just sat down in the lobby to wait for police.
When authorities arrived, Ripple told them he robbed the bank because he would rather be in jail than at home with his wife. He even wrote the robbery note out in front of her to prove his point.
Needless to say, he pleaded guilty to the charges, but in an ironic twist, he won’t serve the jail time he was looking for. Because of his non-existent criminal past, he was only sentenced to 50 hours of community service along with six months of house arrest. Ripple apologized to the judge and the bank teller, insisting he wasn’t himself and was suffering from depression after a quadruple bypass surgery.
His wife appeared by his side in court, so it seems things are going better for the couple – but if not, it’s going to be a long six months for Mr. and Mrs. Ripple.
