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Man robs bank to get medical care in jail

2011-06-22 11:49:27

Some people who need medical care but can't afford it go to the emergency room.

Others just hope they'll get better. James Richard Verone robbed a bank.

Earlier this month, Verone (pictured), a 59-year-old convenience store clerk,

walked into a Gaston, N.C., bank and handed the cashier a note demanding $1 and

medical attention. Then he waited calmly for police to show up.

He's now in jail and has an appointment with a doctor this week.

Verone's problems started when he lost the job he'd held for 17 years as a Coca

Cola deliveryman, amid the economic downturn. He found new work driving a

truck, but it didn't last. Eventually, he took a part-time position at the

convenience store.

But Verone's body wasn't up to it. The bending and lifting made his back ache.

He had problems with his left foot, making him limp. He also suffered from

carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis.

Then he noticed a protrusion on his chest. "The pain was beyond the tolerance

that I could accept," Verone told the Gaston Gazette. "I kind of hit a brick

wall with everything."

Verone knew he needed help--and he didn't want to be a burden on his sister and

brothers. He applied for food stamps, but they weren't enough either.

So he hatched a plan. On June 9, he woke up, showered, ironed his shirt. He

mailed a letter to the Gazette, listing the return address as the Gaston County

Jail.

"When you receive this a bank robbery will have been committed by me," Verone

wrote in the letter. "This robbery is being committed by me for one dollar. I

am of sound mind but not so much sound body."

Then Verone hailed a cab to take him to the RBC Bank. Inside, he handed the

teller his $1 robbery demand.

"I didn't have any fears," said Verone. "I told the teller that I would sit

over here and wait for police."

The teller was so frightened that she had to be taken to the hospital to be

checked out. Verone, meanwhile, was taken to jail, just as he'd planned it.

Because he only asked for $1, Verone was charged with larceny, not bank

robbery. But he said that if his punishment isn't severe enough, he plans to

tell the judge that he'll do it again. His $100,000 bond has been reduced to

$2,000, but he says he doesn't plan to pay it.

In jail, Verone said he skips dinner to avoid too much contact with the other

inmates. He's already seen some nurses and is scheduled to see a doctor on

Friday. He said he's hoping to receive back and foot surgery, and get the

protrusion on his chest treated. Then he plans to spend a few years in jail,

before getting out in time to collect Social Security and move to the beach.

Verone also presented the view that if the United States had a health-care

system which offered people more government support, he wouldn't have had to

make the choice he did.

"If you don't have your health you don't have anything," Verone said.

The Affordable Care Act, President Obama's health-care overhaul passed by

Congress last year, was designed to make it easier for Americans in situations

like Verone's to get health insurance. But most of its provisions don't go into

effect until 2014.

As it is, Verone said he thinks he chose the best of a bunch of bad options. "I

picked jail."