Yesterday’s Robbery, Ct’d…

Thursday, March 4th, 2004

A regular reader who asks for anonymity writes:

I witnessed the robbery from a bench across the street and I’m not going to lie – it was really scary. The strangest thing was the woman at the bank ATM who calmly continued her transaction in spite of the gunfire and armed men not ten feet from her.

I sat in the squad car in front of the building for about 1 ½ hours (you can see my leg in the Post Metro section photo) and then went down to police HQ at 300 Indiana. I was there for 5 1/2 hours waiting, filling out a report, etc. The FBI agent bought me a soda and was especially nice.

I too noticed some odd reactions. Some folks — who I’m guessing knew the sound of a gunshot — immediately took cover. Some looked pretty frightened. Others had wry, curious smiles, and sort of tiptoed around the park to get a better look. Still others, like me, didn’t recognize the sounds as gunshots until the guard came into view, gun drawn, and aimed straight down at the suspect.

I never remember feeling fearful, even though I probably should have been. My first reaction was to head straight to the scene, so I’d have something to write about.

I’m still wondering if it was bravado or sheer stupidity that made the guy think he could heist an armed car at noon on a sunny day in a crowded city square in downtown D.C.

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13 Responses to “Yesterday’s Robbery, Ct’d…”

  1. #1 |  John Venlet | 

    I’d pick “sheer stupidity.”

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  2. #2 |  billgraziano.com | 

    Longer Yellow Lights

    Traffic Cameras vs Longer Yellow Lights

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  3. #3 |  Danno49 | 

    Sheer stupdity with a generous dose of desperation. Strange what your mind can talk you into when you need money. Reminds me of the time when I was on that plane in 1971 and I . . . never mind.

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  4. #4 |  Danno49 | 

    Spelling stupidity “stupdity” wasn’t sheer stupdity, rather sheer . . . impatience. DOH!

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  5. #5 |  Eric | 

    Danno49 -

    You spelled stupidity “stupdity” in a post that corrects a previous instance of spelling stupidity “stupdity”

    If that’s not on purpose (well, even if it is) it’s pretty funny.

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  6. #6 |  Matt | 

    The strangest thing was the woman at the bank ATM who calmly continued her transaction in spite of the gunfire and armed men not ten feet from her.

    Must be a DC native.

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  7. #7 |  Chris | 

    What’s really funny is that Radley was already composing the blog post in his head as forgot to be scared :)

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  8. #8 |  mac | 

    A friend of mine was walking down the street with her boyfriend. Some guy lunged at her boyfriend and started trying to stab him. She continued to walk calmly down the street. She said her brain just shut off. Weird, right?

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  9. #9 |  Danno49 | 

    Eric . . . to avoid appearing stupdid, I refrain from comment.

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  10. #10 |  triticale | 

    That’s the past tense of stupdo, right?

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  11. #11 |  Bob Hawkins | 

    As the police chief of Columbus, Ohio once observed, “Einsteins don’t go into armed robbery”

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  12. #12 |  Danno49 | 

    Of course, triticale. Stupdid as stupdud. Sorry. How’s quadro?

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  13. #13 |  Ms. Dani | 

    Stupdid is as stupdid does, that’s what Danno49 use to say.

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