Robber, 66, nabbed shortly after buying vodka with stolen cash

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PITTSFIELD -- A senior citizen accused of holding up a local bank -- and then using some of the ill-gotten funds to buy vodka -- was arrested by police less than 45 minutes after the robbery.
Joel M. Boyce, 66, of 155 Francis Ave. was held overnight at the Pittsfield Police station on $250,000 bail.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on a charge of armed robbery while masked today in Central Berkshire District Court.

With a dark-colored winter hat pulled over his face, Boyce entered the Berkshire Bank building at 66 West St. just after 10 a.m., told a teller he had a gun and demanded money, Pittsfield Police Chief Anthony J. Riello said.

Fled to package store

Bank employees handed over an undisclosed amount of cash to Boyce, who then fled to the package store in the Big Y supermarket building on West Street, a stone's throw from the robbery scene, according to police.

West Street Wine & Spirits employees said Boyce purchased a 750-milliliter bottle of Absolut vodka and a pack of cigarettes.

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101~7514~2554883,00.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/23/obituaries/23robber.html?oref=login&pagewanted=all

Red Rountree, 92, Nation's Oldest Known Bank Robber, Dies
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ALLAS, Nov. 22 - Red Rountree said robbing banks made him feel "good, awful good." But he did not discover his calling until he was in his 80's.

....

In 1998, Mr. Rountree robbed SouthTrust Bank in Biloxi, Miss., and was sentenced to three years' probation, fined $260 and told to leave Mississippi. A year later, he robbed a NationsBank in Pensacola, Fla., and was sentenced to three years behind bars. He was released in 2002. In August 2003, he robbed First American Bank in Abilene.



NO WONDER the fogeys are robbing banks if all the punishment they get is a $260 fine!

Not a very bright thing to do but I can see this happening. Very depressed area, with lots of alcoholism and substance abuse. I am a crisis clinician for a mental health agency...