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."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110621/ts_yblog_thelookout/man-robs-bank-to-get-medical-care-in-jail

I heard about this; I feel so bad for this guy that he (thought he) had to do this in order to get help...

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I hope this serves as a wake up call for the American government and that they improve their health care system. People commit crimes to protect themselves and their loved ones all the time, whether its for need of money for health reasons, or shelter, or whatever. I think he did the smartest thing he could have. He has a roof over his head and four walls around him and is able to receive health care. I hope he is ok.

It's sad that it's come to THIS.

also, @Aubrey; what do you mean he "thought" he had to do this to get help? He had to because he can't afford any other care. What was his other option? Wait 3 years until the Obama provisions happen?

@ Beautiful Lies -- that's why I put it in parentheses. I don't want to get into a big political argument about it but I don't know 100% his situation, okay? And I don't want to judge whether that WAS his last option or not. If it was, then I feel really bad about that. And if it wasn't, I'm sorry that he didn't know there were other options available. It just sucks all around.

@Aubrey; " I'm sorry that he didn't know there were other options available."

What are these other options?

@Jellyka - you're quoting out of context: And if it wasn't, I'm sorry that he didn't know there were other options available.
I don't KNOW if there were other options or not and I'm not trying to judge. I said IF and that makes a HUGE difference in what I was saying. I don't know the whole situation, just what was reported.

This is kind of reminiscent of what some homeless people do during winters -- they break a window of a store, and sit inside it while the alarm goes off. Police show up, arrest them, and they get to spend the winters warm with 3 squares a day, and are released when it's warm again.

This speaks volumes about the dysfunctional nature of the prison system, where prisoners are frequently treated better than the average law abiding citizen. I say we bring back slavery. Your sentence = number of years you become a slave. (Kidding!)

Funny, if a person felt they were justified in committing crimes to avoid government intrusion, say by refusing to pay taxes and resisting arrest i.e. standoff with the government, people would call him or her a nutjob. But someone commits a crime like in this case, everyone thinks that it's just fine and dandy. A crime was committed, and he might get his healthcare, but he's also going to get a permanent felony on his record. And probably a good ass-raping in jail.