Florida Man Robs Bank to Pay Mortgage

A Tampa man robbed banks to pay off his mortgage

Some would say banks have been robbing homeowners. Well one Florida mortgage holder turned the tables on his local financial institutions.

Tampa Police say a 73-year-old man robbed three banks so he could pay his home mortgage.  James Bruce of Tampa was charged Thursday with three counts of strong-armed robbery.

Police say the elderly man successfully pulled off three holdups in the past month. It's unclear if any of the targets were the actual bank that held the mortgage to his house.

Bruce wasn't a terribly greedy robber, either. He'd pass tellers a note asking for six $100 bills. The sad part is if he was really using the money to pay his mortgage, the stolen cash likely ended up right back where he got it from.

Bruce told detectives that his businesses -- construction and an antique shop -- weren't doing well so he turned to bank robbing.

Logical. Not really.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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