A Kansas Man Allegedly Robbed A Bank Because He’d Prefer Prison Over His Nagging Wife

A Kansas City, Kansas, man allegedly robbed a bank, then sat down on the floor and waited for the cops to come arrest him, saying he’d rather go to prison than go home to his difficult wife, the Kansas City Star is reporting.

As just about every married man reading this article will tell you, there are times when you’d rather be anywhere, anywhere at all, instead of home with your wife. Most of us just go get a drink or hit the gym or go for a drive or whatever, but 70-year-old Lawrence John Ripple apparently wanted a more permanent solution to his marital problems.

Lawrence John Ripple allegedly robs KCK bank and says he preferred jail to life at home | The Kansas City Star https://t.co/fTFwSzTuQF

— David Jones (@Radical53) September 7, 2016

As bank robberies go, it was probably one of the most polite and uneventful to ever happen in Kansas City. Police say that Ripple walked up to a counter at the Bank of Labor in downtown Kansas City (Kansas), and handed the teller a note, saying “I have a gun, give me money.” The teller complied and gave the unarmed man an undisclosed amount of cash.

At this point, your average bank robber would have fled the scene. But not Ripple — he found a comfy chair in the bank lobby and took a seat. When a bank security guard approached him, Ripple didn’t put up a fuss.

“I’m the guy you’re looking for.”

The guard took the stolen loot all of a few feet back to the teller and called the law.

It didn’t take long for the police to show up — KCK police headquarters are literally right down the street — and he allegedly admitted on the spot that the bank robbery was a sham to get out of having to go home to his wife. He told cops that he and his wife had argued and that he “no longer wanted to be in that situation.”

According to an FBI affidavit, Ripple even admitted to writing the demand note at home and showing it to his wife.

So how bad was Ripple’s marriage? A Facebook page belonging to a Larry Ripple of Kansas City, Kansas, contains photos of a man who bears a striking resemblance to the KCK Police Department’s mugshot of the alleged bank robber. So assuming it’s him, he appears to have been somewhat happy as of two weeks ago, when he posted this picture.

This is not the first time someone has robbed a bank specifically so they can go to prison; in fact, it seems to happen with rather alarming frequency.

Just this summer, according to Fox News, 59-year-old Linda Patricia Thompson allegedly robbed a Wyoming bank because she just couldn’t handle life as a free woman. Police say the woman had been so institutionalized after doing time for another robbery conviction that she didn’t want to be released and begged the parole board to let her stay in prison. That didn’t work out, and she was released to the streets. Days later, she was robbed and beaten in a park, suffering facial fractures.

It was then that Thompson decided that going back to the joint was the only option. She walked into a Cheyenne bank, gave the teller a note demanding money, then went outside, threw the money into the air, and sat on the ground waiting for the cops to arrest her.

As of this writing, it is not clear if the cops are willing to let Larry Ripple go if he and his wife make up.

[Image via Shutterstock/CREATISTA]