Gambling, Poker Addiction Causes Man to Rob Bank in His Underwear

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on

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Jagajeet Chiba

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73-year-old John A. Dougherty of Fort Pierce, Florida, has been jailed for robbing a local bank.  He blames the act on his long time gambling addiction.

And Dougherty didn’t just rob the bank, he did the deed in his underwear, so to speak.

Dougherty wore black briefs over his head to conceal his identity. 

The bank robber told police that he committed the crime because he was on a fixed income and gambled away his money on horses and Texas Hold ‘em.

His target was TD Bank at 5053 Turnpike Feeder Road in the Lakewood Park area around 1 p.m Wednesday January 22, 2013.

From the Palm Beach Post:

Dougherty walked into the bank wearing black underwear over his face and holding a wooden shotgun. He ordered two bank employees out of their offices and told them to go to the teller counter. Once there, he placed a gray plastic Walmart bag on the counter and told the teller to put $20 and $50 bills in the bag.

Once given the money, Dougherty ordered the employees to the ground and told them to count to 100. He left the bank and got into a maroon Chevy suburban with a Minnesota license plate. Hidden in the cash was a bank robbery detection device, according to the statement.

Bank employees activated a silent alarm, called 911, and gave police a description of Dougherty and the suburban.

Dougherty said he was sitting at home earlier in the day and decided to rob the bank. He picked that bank in particular because he remembered the layout from a previous visit.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com

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