Day After Finishing 22-Year Prison Bid, Ex-Con Blows Bank Robbery

69-year-old John Stolarz was released from federal prison on Wednesday after serving 22 years for robbing banks. Yesterday, Stolarz tried to rob a midtown Manhattan bank with a knife. It didn't work out so well.

Upon his release from a federal prison in New Jersey, Stolarz was supposed to report directly to a halfway house where he would be integrated back into society. Instead he took a detour to a Chase bank branch near Madison Square Garden armed with a knife. When he entered the bank, Stolarz demanded $50s and $100s from an employee, but didn't realize he was at the customer service desk and not a teller window. He fled into the street, was shot in the leg by NYPD officers, and is now recovering in a hospital with only a bullet hole in his leg, and his thoughts.

The Daily News interviewed witnesses, and bumped into another man who was just released from jail:

Passerby David Nipatela, 26, who got out of Rikers just yesterday after serving a year for marijuana possession, had some harsh words for his fellow ex-con.

"It is the worst possible place to try and rob a bank," he said. "Don't try to rob a bank in midtown. Bottom line: Too many cops. You are gonna get caught."

Words of wisdom from a weed dealer. Stolarz's robbery attempt is so ridiculous, you've got to wonder if maybe he just wanted a ticket back to prison. He's 69 years old, has been locked up for 22 years, and probably knows little else. Either way, what a dumbass.