DUI left man with $14,000 debt, so he robbed a bank in Overland Park. His haul? $615
Facing a $14,000 debt from a DUI, a Kansas City man decided to rob an Overland Park bank last October.
He got only $615. And then he got caught.
On Wednesday, Ryan Michael Cothern pleaded guilty to the hold-up of the U.S. Bank at 9900 West 87th St.
Cothern, 41, typed a message on his cell phone and showed it to a bank teller: “Put the 100s, 50s and 20s in the bag.”
Prosecutors said that when the teller hesitated, Cothern told her, “Don’t do anything you shouldn’t do.”
The teller complied, putting the money in a bag, along with a GPS device.
Cothern was arrested nearby a short time later.
According to Johnson County court and jail records, Cothern had been released from jail a few days before the robbery.
He had been held for a probation violation in a DUI case and was under a court order to make monthly payments of $100 to pay off the more than $14,000 he still owed in restitution and court costs, according to the records.
Tony Rizzo: 816-234-4435, @trizzkc
This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 8:51 AM with the headline "DUI left man with $14,000 debt, so he robbed a bank in Overland Park. His haul? $615."