> No Retirement for Elderly Bandit .c The Associated Press > By RACHEL LA CORTE > FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- At 78, Forrest Silva Tucker apparently wasn't > ready to become just another Florida retiree enjoying the nightly early-bird > special. > > Twenty years after he escaped from San Quentin Prison in a crude kayak, > Tucker was captured and accused of robbing a bank earlier this month. > > > ``He looked like he just came off the golf course,'' said Lt. James Chinn. `` > > In 1979, Tucker was serving a 10-year robbery sentence at San Quentin when > he and two inmates escaped in a kayak made in the prison woodshop out of > pieces of plastic sheets, wood, duct tape and Formica. > > The craft, painted bright blue on one side with the words Rub-a-Dub-Dub in > red, floated the three to safety across San Francisco Bay. The two other > inmates were caught within months. > > Tucker remained on the loose until 1983, when he was arrested after a > shootout with the FBI in West Palm Beach and charged with stealing more than $ > 374,000 from a Boston bank. He took three hostages during the shootout and > was captured after he collapsed from blood loss from four gunshot wounds. He > was convicted a year later and released from prison in 1994. > > Authorities didn't realize that he still had time to serve in California. >
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No Retirement for Elderly Bandit .c The Associated Press By RACHEL LA CORTE FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- At 78, Forrest Silva Tucker apparently wasn't ready to become just another Florida retiree enjoying the nightly early-bird special. Twenty years after he escaped from San Quentin Prison in a crude kayak, Tucker was captured and accused of robbing a bank earlier this month. He didn't go quietly. Police had had him under surveillance even before the holdup April 22 in Pompano Beach. On the day of the robbery, they were waiting for him at his wife's home. When he arrived, he led deputies on a high-speed chase before crashing into a palm tree. In his car, deputies found more than $5,500 in cash from the robbery, a sawed-off assault rifle, two stocking masks, pepper spray, a police scanner and a New York detective badge. ``He looked like he just came off the golf course,'' said Lt. James Chinn. ``You'd more expect to see him go to an early-bird special than robbing banks.'' In fact, six weeks before his arrest, he underwent a surgical procedure for an arrhythmia, or an irregular heart beat, Tucker told deputies. Chinn said Tucker was the reputed leader of the Over the Hill Gang, a group of elderly men who robbed banks and stores in Florida in the 1980s. ``Potentially he's America's oldest bank robber,'' said Kirk Englehardt, a spokesman for the Broward County Sheriff's Office. ``Apparently, this guy had no intention of stopping. This was his retirement plan, I guess.'' Tucker's attorney, Charles White, would not comment. Tucker was jailed pending arraignment Wednesday. His criminal record goes back to 1936, when he was arrested at 15 for stealing a bicycle. In 1979, Tucker was serving a 10-year robbery sentence at San Quentin when he and two inmates escaped in a kayak made in the prison woodshop out of pieces of plastic sheets, wood, duct tape and Formica. The craft, painted bright blue on one side with the words Rub-a-Dub-Dub in red, floated the three to safety across San Francisco Bay. The two other inmates were caught within months. Tucker remained on the loose until 1983, when he was arrested after a shootout with the FBI in West Palm Beach and charged with stealing more than $374,000 from a Boston bank. He took three hostages during the shootout and was captured after he collapsed from blood loss from four gunshot wounds. He was convicted a year later and released from prison in 1994. Authorities didn't realize that he still had time to serve in California. Chinn said the FBI had been investigating Tucker in connectionn with several bank robberies in Florida over the past two years. ``This is a bad guy,'' Chinn said. ``I would hope that they never let him out again. His intent is not to kill somebody, but he is willing to do just that if necessary. That's why he's so dangerous.'' AP-NY-04-30-99 1638EDT Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press. To edit your profile, go to keyword <A HREF="aol://1722:NewsProfiles">NewsProfiles </A>. For all of today's news, go to keyword <A HREF="aol://1722:News">News</A>. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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