Heres the way it came out in the Abilene paper.
I live in Coleman, about 55 miles south of Abilene, and followed the incident on my scanner. Got very interesting
LOL
http://www.reporternews.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_2176655,00.html Robbery suspect one for the ages
Man accused is 91, has criminal history
By Thaddeus DeJesus
Reporter-News Staff Writer
August 13, 2003
A 91-year-old Goldthwaite man was arrested and charged with robbing an Abilene bank Tuesday.
Police said J.L. Hunter Rountree allegedly demanded money from a clerk at First American Bank, at 3409 S. 14th St., shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday. Rountree was stopped on U.S. Highway 84 outside of Lawn, about 20 miles south of Abilene, within an hour of the robbery. His car matched the description of a statewide bulletin issued after the robbery, and was stopped by a West Central Texas Interlocal Crime Task Force agent.
Authorities recovered all the money allegedly taken from the bank — about $2,000 — from inside the sedan Rountree was driving, officials said.
Rountree apparently did not use a weapon, but is accused of demanding money verbally and in a note written on an envelope, said Abilene Police Sgt. Mike Perry, who noted that the crime is unusual because of the suspect’s age. Bank robbers typically range in age from the 20s to the 40s, he said.
"It’s the oldest bank robber I’ve been involved with," said Perry, a 12-year police force veteran.
Rountree is charged with robbery and is being held at the Taylor County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail. The robbery is being investigated by both the Abilene Police Department and the FBI.
Perry said the Taylor County district attorney and a federal prosecutor will decide which entity will prosecute the case.
During interviews with detectives Tuesday afternoon, Rountree was lucid but said little about a motive, Perry said. The suspect instead alluded to a failed business and a general hatred of banks, Perry said.
In February 2001, the Orlando Sentinel profiled Rountree, the Florida prison system’s oldest inmate, while he was serving a three-year sentence in connection with a 1999 robbery of a Nations Bank in Pensacola. The article also noted that Rountree attempted to rob a Biloxi, Miss., bank in 1998 when he was 87. He received probation for that robbery attempt.
"A Corpus Christi bank that I’d done business with had forced me into bankruptcy," Rountree told the Orlando Sentinel. "I have never liked banks since. I decided I would get even. And I have. Banks are the easiest things in the world to rob."
According to the Orlando newspaper article, Rountree was once a successful Houston businessman, who built a company that designed and built industrial-size able winches to hold offshore drilling rigs in place. He lost his fortune after his wife, Fay Rountree, died in 1986 and he became involved with younger women with drug problems, the Sentinel reported. Rountree told the newspaper he spent $500,000 on drug rehabilitation for his second wife, whom he later divorced.
The article quoted him as saying, "I rob banks for the money. Social Security is all I have, and I like to live good."
Capt. Chip Simmons with the Pensacola Police Department said the Florida case caused a flurry of local attention because of Rountree’s age. The arrest and subsequent conviction was the only run-in Rountree had in Pensacola, Simmons said. His record had no address, leading some Pensacola officials to suspect that Rountree was homeless and desperate.
"He’s done one better — he’s now 91," Simmons said upon learning Rountree had been arrested for Tuesday’s robbery. "There were some people who were wondering about the motive. You obviously feel for someone for that age, but you can’t allow someone to do what he’s done regardless of age."
Aside from the Pensacola bank robbery, Rountree’s criminal record is peppered with other crimes, including convictions for minor thefts and burglary of a vehicle.
In handcuffs and police custody at Taylor County Law Enforcement Center by noon, Rountree was stone-faced as he shuffled into the building, refusing to answer reporters’ questions. As the police cruiser pulled up to the station, Rountree tried to cower in the back seat until a police officer gingerly assisted the 91-year-old in exiting the vehicle.
Rountree’s nephew, Buddy Rountree of Goldthwaite, said he last spoke to his uncle for a few minutes on Monday before a doctor’s appointment. Buddy Rountree said he was at a loss to explain his uncle’s action.
"I don’t have any more idea than the man on the moon," he said.
J.L. Hunter Rountree, who is also known by the nickname "Red," declined a request for a jailhouse interview Tuesday.
Tuesday’s robbery coincidentally fell in line with the Abilene Police Department’s "Bump Day," when officers are reassigned to other positions according to seniority. During last year’s Bump Day, a baby was kidnapped in the Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot, attracting national media attention. The baby was recovered in Quanah the next day.
The last bank robbery in Abilene occurred Nov. 7 at First National Bank’s motor bank, about a block away from the location of Tuesday’s robbery. The case was solved Christmas Eve when Adam Gladhill was arrested and charged for the armed robbery.
Contact staff writer Thaddeus DeJesus at
dejesust@reporternews.com or 676-6744.
Well, what should society do with Red? Shall we pick up his future medical bills? LOL
Hmmm. I wonder how well the case would go if he didn't write out "robbery".