Bandit doesn’t deserve star treatment, just arrest

Published 12:11 am Tuesday, August 24, 2010

We’re all victims of crimes — if only indirectly. Even if you don’t bank at the local bank that was recently robbed, for example, the crime still hit your wallet, just a little.

Our tax dollars must pay for the investigators to search for the suspect. All banks consequently must spend more money on security and training — not to mention replacing the lost cash — all because a criminal, dubbed the “Bayou Bandit,” decided he didn’t want to work for a living; he’d rather just steal your money.

We’ve never been fans of glorifying criminal behavior. The idea of making someone who lies, cheats or steals into something more than, well, a liar, a cheater or a thief, turns our stomachs a bit.

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But perhaps we’re being too harsh. Perhaps just a little bit of “fame” may help stop a few crooks every once in a while.

The latest case in point may be Natchez’s most recent mystery bank robber.

The middle-age man strolled into a local bank, handed the teller a note asking for cash and strolled out the door.

Soon after the initial reports, investigators linked images of the suspect to nearly a dozen other bank robberies throughout the region.

So the theory is, we suppose, this guy is just some criminal wandering the countryside hitting up banks whenever he needs some cash.

But if we as a community or we as a country just let such crimes be and collectively shrug our shoulders, the world would spiral out of control.

So if it helps society a bit to briefly glorify this thug by labeling him the “Bayou Bandit,” great.

We just hope he’s caught soon and his 15 minutes of fame are soon over.