O. Henry couldn’t have written a story with a more fitting surprise ending. The “hero” of this tale is 71-year-old Lawrence John Ripple, of Kansas City, Kan., who up until last September suffered under the weight of a bad marriage.
It was then that he hatched a plan to escape from his wife. He entered a local bank and handed the teller a note that read, “I have a gun, give me money.” She complied, giving him all the cash in her till — $2,924 in total.
But instead of fleeing, Ripple did something unprecedented. He sat down in the bank lobby and waited for the police to arrive. When they did, he calmly announced, “I’m the guy you’re looking for.”
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At his arraignment, Ripple entered a guilty plea, knowing that the penalty for his crime might be as much as 37 months in prison — which had been his goal all along. He was so determined to get away from his wife that he saw jail as a lesser form of incarceration.
Last week, Ripple learned his fate. He was sentenced to six months … of home confinement!
(h/t Kansas City Star)
