Man robs bank to get healthcare in jail
This is the low our healthcare system and social safety net have reached: a man finds himself so desperate for care he throws away his freedom and risks his life (he could easily have been shot) to get behind bars where he can get his basic survival needs met.
Old man wanted more than money in Branson bank robbery (Springfield News-Leader)
Cyrus turned himself in to police a few days after the robbery and pleaded guilty on Nov. 10.
Cyrus gave an emotional speech in the courtroom after pleading guilty, saying he has bad feet and is losing his hearing. He told the judge he recently lost his job and was turned away by a Veterans Affairs hospital.
Cyrus said he woke up the morning of the robbery in his trailer at the Yacht Club Mobile Home Park in Hollister with roaches crawling all over his body.
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Two hours later, Cyrus paid his rent in cash, put a "for sale" sign in his truck and left town. He would later come back to Branson and turn himself in.
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Hendricks said he could only think of one explanation when he heard Cyrus had been arrested for robbing a bank.
"The very first instinct that I got after he did it is that he wants to get popped so that he can go to jail, because the jail will take care of him," Hendricks said. "It makes you wonder what's wrong with our system."