Bank robber caught with spelling error

The Dominion Post ^ | 01/16/2004 | AP

[the_devils_advocate_666]

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- A suspect was linked to a series of bank robberies by his own bad spelling, police said.

Robert C. Whitney's consistently confused the words ''dye'' and ''die'' in robbery notes given to bank tellers, police said. A note used in a Gainesville robbery read ''If a die pack blows, so do you,'' said police Sgt. Keith Kameg. The same wording had been used on notes in two Volusia County robberies, he said.

''If anything says education is important to your future, this case says that,'' Kameg said. ''As simple as spelling one word wrong was instrumental in solving three bank robberies.'' Whitney, 39, arrested in Leon County last week, was also wanted in Hillsborough County. Gainesville police issued a warrant on Tuesday.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

Don't guess a spell checker would have helped this guy.

[Publius]

Rent Woody Allen's 1969 classic, "Take the Money and Run". There is a scene where Allen attempts to rob a bank and gets into an argument with the teller as to whether the word on the holdup note is "gun" or "gub".

[Kerberos]

"Don't guess a spell checker would have helped this guy."

However, maybe he could have sued Microsoft for not interpreting the correct grammatical use of the word in his note.

[MotleyGirl70]

''If a die pack blows, so do you,''

D'OH

[GLSchnJR]

Went to public school did he? So did dye!

[Kerberos]

"Went to public school did he? So did dye!"

You mean as in "Lady Di?"

[savedbygrace]

Then while arguing with a bank official, he is arrested and ultimately sent to a prison work farm, where prisoners are fed "one hot meal a day, a bowl of steam."

For infractions of the rules, or was it for escape attempts, prisoners are forced to spend 24 hours "in the hole . . . . with an insurance salesman."

That was back when Allen was at least a little funny.

[saquin]

"gub"

I love that scene from "Take the Money and Run"! I have to watch that movie again sometime. I haven't seen that one in years.

[the_devils_advocate_666]

Did you know that die and dye are homophones?

[Fester Chugabrew]

"If anything says education is important to your future, this case says that . . ."

I. e., the better one is educated the better one can thieve and rob. Lawyers and Congress have examples aplenty.

[DeepDish]

"Did you know that die and dye are homophones?"

Does that mean the robber was guilty of sexually deviant word usage. He'll probably get more jail time for sodomizing the English language than for the bank jobs. (/tongue in cheek)

[ThanhPhero]

A homophone is a pink communication device.

[DeepDish]

A homophone is a pink communication device.

And a homonym is an appellation to the identity of a gay.

[lelio]

I bet the robber's sorry he entered that spelling contest that all the cops were watching. Who knew it was a setup?

[Consort]

In the movie, The Wrong Man, with Henry Fonda, the word was "draw" vs "drawer."