Wannabe Bank Robber Calls Ahead, Orders Cash to Go DIALING FOR DOLLARS
Any bank robber knows you have to hurry through a heist to escape. A crook in Connecticut tried a novel time-saving technique: calling ahead.
through the window. But, “I’ve never had somebody call ahead and say, ‘Get the money, we’re coming,’” said a detective in the Fairfield case. In taking advantage of the telephone warning, the police were already at the scene when the robbers arrived. “I would classify these individuals as ‘not too bright,’” the police spokesman said. The employee who answered the robber’s call immediately hung up and called 9-1-1. The thief’s accomplice, a minor, was already inside the bank when the managers initiated a lockdown. The accomplice passed the teller a note and collected about $900, but police stopped him as he left the bank. The fleeing accomplice was undoubtedly disappointed when the bag exploded in dye after throwing it on the ground. (Bank employees had disregarded the robbers’ phone order that no dye packs be tucked in with the cash. You just can’t get good service these days.) The accomplice and the robber who placed the call, who had been sitting in a car nearby, were both arrested at the scene without incident. The adult suspect, Albert Bailey, was on probation for a different bank hold-up several years earlier. Both were charged with first-degree robbery and threatening in the first degree.
Taking a cue from the take-out food craze, the wannabe bank robber called a bank in Fairfield, Connecticut, and demanded that $100,000 in large bills be
prepared for him with no dye packs in the bag. If the orders were not carried out, the caller told the employee, “there will be a bloodbath.”
Fairfield cops, who thought they’d seen it all, were
dumbfounded. “You can’t make this stuff up,” said a spokesman for the Fairfield Police Department. Robbers have tried many routes when attempting to rob a bank, including entering the drive-through lane and terrorizing tellers
Assessing Liability in Autonomous Vehicle Accidents In the Driverless Seat
Who is at fault if you are in an accident involving an autonomous vehicle? As it turns out, no drivers are at fault when an autonomous vehicle is involved. As technology evolves, so does the law. With the advent of autonomous vehicles, Florida has passed laws defining them and how fault is determined in accidents involving them. What are autonomous vehicles? Autonomous vehicles are defined in Florida State Statute 316.003 as any vehicle equipped with autonomous technology that has the capability to drive without active control or monitoring by a human operator. However, this does not mean that if your car features common driver assistance technology, such as blind spot assistance, parking assistance, or emergency braking, you are off the
hook regarding liability. The technology involved must be able to drive the car without any interaction on the part of the driver. Additionally, according to Florida State Statute 316.85, “A licensed human operator is not required to operate a fully autonomous vehicle.”That means, by law, vehicles can operate in Florida without anyone in them at all. Who is at fault? Here comes the ultimate question: If no driver is found at fault, does that mean you have no options when it comes to financial recovery? Fortunately, even if there is no driver in the other car, you can still go after the vehicle’s owner or the manufacturers. For instance, similar to a product liability case, if there are issues with the software that enabled the vehicle to drive and caused the accident, then the
manufacturer would be at fault. This is a new legal frontier, and we are still working diligently to identify ways to recover for clients caught up in these unique situations. Tragically, there have been two known fatalities recorded from accidents involving autonomous vehicles in Florida, so this is an area where we will likely see further legislation passed in the future to protect our drivers.
2 • www.AttorneyShapiro.com
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