4 ms·

A heroin addiction fueled a former engineer’s bank robbery spree

43 points by esalazar 7y ago

ipushfatkids 7y ago
It really is crazy to me how a white dude can commit 30 bank robberies and end up doing less tha 4 years in prison. I personally know one guy who is a minority who did 10 for his first attempt, and he was 17.
mapcars 7y ago
What a story!
- waltwalther 7y ago
  I second that. I would buy this man's book. Too bad it was all lost. I hope he rewrites it. I bought Clay Tumey's book after reading about him on reddit. He's another non-violent bank robber. Good story there also, except his wasnt a heroin addiction.
Aardwolf 7y ago
"A heroin addiction fueled a former Boeing engineer’s, 30-bank robbery spree" Off topic, but I don't understand why the comma is there? Is there some English language rule dictating this one?
- zhaso 7y ago
  It shouldn't be there
- david-s 7y ago
  the original title has "yearlong, 30-bank" there. "yearlong" has been removed for some reason, but the comma remains
  - tomhoward 7y ago
    It'd be because the original title exceeded the 80-char limit, so the submitter tried to condense it.
- ggambetta 7y ago
  Pretty sure that comma has nothing to do there. Maybe it was transcribed from something Christopher Walken said?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
xfitm3 7y ago
if(headline =~ "Boeing") sensationalize++;
- Aromasin 7y ago
  else sensationalize++; # Is it really a headline if it's not sensationalized nowadays?
  - xfitm3 7y ago
    Unfortunately not. RIP fairness doctrine.
- archi42 7y ago
  tbh, I think that "engineer at a big company" is not that unimportant: That guy started to fall from a high point, he had already achieved something and, if it wasn't for his addiction, this story wouldn't have happened; it's not like he had no future to begin with. Maybe s/Boing/huge tech company/, but then it would be quite cumbersome, wouldn't it?
- notus 7y ago
  It's actually a well put together story and worth reading.
vmurthy 7y ago
From the story: "It gets to the point that it’s not about being high, it’s about not being sick". That's scary! Of course,I don't see the point of using Boeing in the headline. Robberies notwithstanding, the problems of addiction would have been the same for any one else, too.
- Angostura 7y ago
  Boeing engineer = "he was smart, he had achieved things with his life, he was a professional" - and yet it happened to him. Economical headline writing.
- thrw298398 7y ago
  Interesting twist. I am a high functioning addict in a top tier company who has dabbled in the more extreme drugs in the past two years. I am alone. All family is deceased. I can't seek help via EAP because I will be judged and labeled. What do I do?
  - vmurthy 7y ago
    I’m afraid I don’t quite know how EAP works and am sorry to hear about your addiction. One advice If I may : no one quite cares about you for their judgements to matter. Your life is yours alone and in the interest of your life and health, please do get some help.
mothsonasloth 7y ago
Opiates sound hellish and indiscriminatory. My question is are the drugs themselves to blame, or BigPharma who uses them with/without the knowledge of their pharmacological effects in the short and long term?
- daniel-cussen 7y ago
  It leads me to use "addict" as a transitive verb. As in, "Purdue Pharma knowingly addicted millions of Americans to opioids." (As an aside, in Spanish at least "suicide" is also a transitive verb in some cases, as in "The Roman emperor suicided the senator." This was because in Rome emperors would knowingly and deliberately create circumstances (credible threats for instance) that would leave the victim with effectively no choice but to do what many others in the same situation would do).
- notus 7y ago
  Part of it is pharmaceutical companies overselling them as safer alternatives to previous drugs that caused epidemics. Oxycodone was marketed as safer than Heroin when it first came out. The other part is we still treat drug users as criminals and there is a lot of prejudice against addicts. People seem to think it is just a matter of willpower to beat it and it isn't. Drug users return to drugs because society still shuns them even in recovery.

43 points by esalazar 7y ago

It really is crazy to me how a white dude can commit 30 bank robberies and end up doing less tha 4 years in prison. I personally know one guy who is a minority who did 10 for his first attempt, and he was 17.

mapcars 7y ago

What a story!

waltwalther 7y ago
I second that. I would buy this man's book. Too bad it was all lost. I hope he rewrites it. I bought Clay Tumey's book after reading about him on reddit. He's another non-violent bank robber. Good story there also, except his wasnt a heroin addiction.

Aardwolf 7y ago

"A heroin addiction fueled a former Boeing engineer’s, 30-bank robbery spree" Off topic, but I don't understand why the comma is there? Is there some English language rule dictating this one?

zhaso 7y ago
It shouldn't be there
david-s 7y ago
the original title has "yearlong, 30-bank" there. "yearlong" has been removed for some reason, but the comma remains
- tomhoward 7y ago
  It'd be because the original title exceeded the 80-char limit, so the submitter tried to condense it.
ggambetta 7y ago
Pretty sure that comma has nothing to do there. Maybe it was transcribed from something Christopher Walken said?
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

xfitm3 7y ago

if(headline =~ "Boeing") sensationalize++;

Aromasin 7y ago
else sensationalize++; # Is it really a headline if it's not sensationalized nowadays?
- xfitm3 7y ago
  Unfortunately not. RIP fairness doctrine.
archi42 7y ago
tbh, I think that "engineer at a big company" is not that unimportant: That guy started to fall from a high point, he had already achieved something and, if it wasn't for his addiction, this story wouldn't have happened; it's not like he had no future to begin with. Maybe s/Boing/huge tech company/, but then it would be quite cumbersome, wouldn't it?
notus 7y ago
It's actually a well put together story and worth reading.

vmurthy 7y ago

From the story: "It gets to the point that it’s not about being high, it’s about not being sick". That's scary! Of course,I don't see the point of using Boeing in the headline. Robberies notwithstanding, the problems of addiction would have been the same for any one else, too.

Angostura 7y ago
Boeing engineer = "he was smart, he had achieved things with his life, he was a professional" - and yet it happened to him. Economical headline writing.
thrw298398 7y ago
Interesting twist. I am a high functioning addict in a top tier company who has dabbled in the more extreme drugs in the past two years. I am alone. All family is deceased. I can't seek help via EAP because I will be judged and labeled. What do I do?
- vmurthy 7y ago
  I’m afraid I don’t quite know how EAP works and am sorry to hear about your addiction. One advice If I may : no one quite cares about you for their judgements to matter. Your life is yours alone and in the interest of your life and health, please do get some help.

mothsonasloth 7y ago

Opiates sound hellish and indiscriminatory. My question is are the drugs themselves to blame, or BigPharma who uses them with/without the knowledge of their pharmacological effects in the short and long term?

daniel-cussen 7y ago
It leads me to use "addict" as a transitive verb. As in, "Purdue Pharma knowingly addicted millions of Americans to opioids." (As an aside, in Spanish at least "suicide" is also a transitive verb in some cases, as in "The Roman emperor suicided the senator." This was because in Rome emperors would knowingly and deliberately create circumstances (credible threats for instance) that would leave the victim with effectively no choice but to do what many others in the same situation would do).
notus 7y ago
Part of it is pharmaceutical companies overselling them as safer alternatives to previous drugs that caused epidemics. Oxycodone was marketed as safer than Heroin when it first came out. The other part is we still treat drug users as criminals and there is a lot of prejudice against addicts. People seem to think it is just a matter of willpower to beat it and it isn't. Drug users return to drugs because society still shuns them even in recovery.