Lest anyone think that I have never experienced crime - all that needs to be said is that I lived in Mason City, Iowa during my high school years. Mason City has the highest crime rate per capita in the state of Iowa. I've had my car broken into, been threatened with a baseball bat - twice, had someone come up to the passenger side of my car at a stop light and start punching my friend, not to mention the murder and kidnapping that went on. However, for the last 13 years my wife and I have lived in communities where locking your door at night is optional. (Although I always did it out of habit... not locking your door at night in Mason City was just asking for it.) So it came as a bit of a surprise yesterday afternoon, as I returned from the grocery store, to see a bunch of cop cars, with lights flashing, staking out a perimeter just yards away from our apartment building. At first I thought it was an accident - but then I got an email from the seminary: someone had robbed the local bank at gunpoint. He walked into the bank, showed a gun, asked for money, took a hostage - and as he fled fired two shots at an off duty police officer. Crazy. From the sounds of it such activity is rare for this little neighborhood, St. Anthony Park - I guess we're getting the whole big city experience.
Here's the story.
I'm not trying to make light of the situation - I'm sure the bank teller is pretty shook up - but bank robberies ain't what they once were. Obviously this guy was no Jesse James - getting caught in Wisconsin after stopping for a few drinks and crashing his van. I'm guessing there won't be a book or movie deal.
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