Moron: Decides Eating M&Ms More Important Than Robbing Bank

[Botany]

Joshua Vargas, Moron of the Day: Decides Eating M&Ms More Important Than Robbing Bank

http://www.truecrimereport.com/2011/01/joshua_vargas.php

21-year-old Joshua Vargas has launched himself into an early lead in the race for the Dumbest Criminal of the Year. It
seems our hero is unaware of the invention of the burglar alarm. At 3 a.m. on Monday, he decided to break into a bank
in Taylor, Texas...

And since everything's big in Texas, he decided to be the biggest moron to rob a bank. He began with the rather crude
notion that he'd simply break a window at the main entrance, failing to recognize that it might just be wired to an alarm system.

snip

Police managed to arrive at the bank five minutes after the alarm sounded. And there was Joshua eating M&Ms. He hadn't even
made his way past the first teller station.

Our dope is now charged with burglary and possession of a minor amount of weed -- which may explain the urgent need for candy.
We're unsure if Texas provides special dispensation to criminals so stupid they might actually be harmless.

[Renew Deal]

1. He's lucky he didn't take any money.

Because he'd be in jail a long time...

[old mark]

2. K&R...They are not masterminds as they are on TV- I recall a break in

at a sandwich shop in PA...Burglars got several cartons of smokes and about $40 in cash.
Police caught them by following the footprints in the snow leading to their apartment in the building next door...They did serve jail time.


mark

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. Would this have even happened...

...if people had easy access to mental health services? Does this sound like the actions of a fully functioning and normal intellect?

[Very_Boring_Name]

5. I don't think "stupid" qualifies as a mental health disorder

[Gold Metal Flake]

7. I don't think "stupid" qualifies as a mental health diagnosis here.

But it a common and Very_Boring_Pejorative.

[Very_Boring_Name]

10. Poor little bank thief

If only he'd gotten the mental health treatment he so needed! Waaaaaah! :rofl::rofl:

[Gold Metal Flake]

11. That's right.

Might have helped Jared Laughner, too.

[badtoworse]

12. You should lighten up a bit...

Some clown, stoned on smoke, breaks into a bank and gets distracted by the munchies. I'll bet the cops had a tough time keeping a straight face when they busted him. Nobody got shot and I'm sorry, but there is an element of funny in that. I'll grant you that "stupid" is an unkind word to describe someone who was apparently born with only a half ration of brains.

Laughner is not stupid; he's deranged - huge difference.

[Gold Metal Flake]

14. You should stop posting.

Liberals have long recognized the connection between access to mental health treatment and public safety & lowered crime. Conservatives have long attacked any attempts to provide mental health treatment to the public, even attacking anyone who mentions it. Liberals funded mental health programs for years and then conservatives defunded them and opened the mental hospital doors and pushed patients out on the street.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is proposing legislative changes that would eliminate funds for mental health treatment for 5100 Arizonans. Which one will be the B&E stoner and which one will be the new Jared Laughner?

[badtoworse]

15. I apologize if I offended you. Mental health care is obviously important

Funding is a huge problem, but I don't know what the answer is. Many states are nearly broke and have to decide between laying off workers, paying pensions, raising taxes and cutting services. Look at the city of Camden - it just laid off half its cops and firemen. In NY, Cuomo is talking about laying off 12,000 state workers and cutting Medicaid. It's not surprising to me that mental health is getting hit, but what state program isn't?

With mental health, it's more complicated than just funding. A lot of people who desperately need it are resistant to getting it and unless they commit a crime, there isn't much you can do to force them to. In the mid 1990's, New York City involuntarily put a number of homeless people (who clearly had mental health problems) in institutions. Lawsuits were filed to have them released. What happened? They wound up back on the street, homeless again. The bottom line was they couldn't be held against their will despite needing help for mental illness. What would you have done about that?

Your post said that Brewer is seeking to eliminate funding for mental health. That suggests to me that presently there is funding and at least some programs are available. I don't believe there is any evidence that Laughner tried to get mental health treatment himself and it was denied. Unfortunately, I don't believe there is any evidence either that his parents, the school or the sheriff's department tried to get him treated for what were obviously serious mental health issues. (That's an opinion. I don't know all the facts and I could be wrong about that). If no one seeks treatment, it's irrelevant whether the programs are available or not.

There has been a lot of focus since the Tuscon shooting about more gun control. That is unfortunate, because the real issue is how to deal with the other Laughners who have not committed any violent act (yet). In most cases, I can't see such an individual voluntarily seeking help and it's quite difficult to legally detain them until they have committed a crime. By then, it's too late. How would you deal with that?

Getting back to our friend in the bank, I suspect he will get a mental health evaluation and should get help of some kind. Maybe he has a substance abuse problem and he can be helped with that. Bottom line though, I don't think he's all that bright and I don't know how you can change that.

[Historic NY]

4. He must have thought they left the drawers loaded with money... not.

he must have took Willie Sutton at his word.:dunce:

[woo me with science]

6. LOL! The Stanford marshmallow experiment validated!

http://www.sybervision.com/Discipline/marshmallow.htm

[Shagbark Hickory]

8. M&ms have that effect on people. I'm hooked on them myself.

[badtoworse]

9. Were they plain or peanut?

A little weed and some peanut M&M's - I can relate to that.

[sakabatou]

13. Or pretzel?

[Swamp Rat]

16. I don't know why, but I feel sorry for him.

:shrug:

[badtoworse]

17. It's because he doesn't look like a bad person. - nt