(((There are people here and there who think that the plots of thriller novels are a little far-fetched. Reality is too sad and too weird to be plausible.)))
http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080830/UPDATE/80830001
Link: Respected ex-NYPD detective suspected in bank rob | lohud.com | The Journal News.
NEW YORK (AP) — He was a highly respected former NYPD detective and a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War who struggled in recent months with inoperable liver cancer.
But now, Athelson Kelson (((his name isn't realistic, either))) is charged with bank robbery, identified by authorities as the so-called Bling Bandit, suspected of pulling off nine heists while wearing a flashy watch and ring.
Kelson, 59, was arraigned Friday afternoon in connection with a robbery at a Queens bank on July 10. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted. Judge Elisa Koenderman ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
His mother, Hilda Kelson, said her son has struggled with the disintegration of his marriage, memories from his experience in Vietnam and, most recently, his terminal cancer diagnosis.
“He’s been having problems mentally for a long time,” Kelson, of Randallstown, Md., told the newspaper Newsday. She said her son was diagnosed with cancer in June.
“I just hope ... he can get the help that he needs,” she said. (((You couldn't put the mom in a novel – that's a cheap, tearjerker move.)))
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who described the case as “sad and shocking,” said Kelson — a former member of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force — was awarded a Purple Heart for his service during the Vietnam War. He confirmed that Kelson was terminally ill with cancer. (((At least he's merely robbing banks rather than turning to terrorism.)))
While Kelson has been charged with only one robbery to date, the police commissioner said he had been implicated in at least four in Queens and on Long Island over the past 2 1/2 months by bank employees who picked him out of a lineup....
