Posted on 04/08/2005 5:57:22 PM PDT by Land_of_Lincoln_John
CHICAGO (AP) Robert Royko, a son of the late newspaper columnist Mike Royko, was arrested Friday at a Chicago bank and charged with attempting to rob it after authorities say he walked in with a device rigged to look like a pipe bomb and demanded a bag of cash.
Royko, 41, of Johnsburg, appeared briefly before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan and was ordered held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center pending a hearing Tuesday. A defense attorney and family friend of Royko's said he would plead innocent.
According to FBI agents, Royko entered the Associated Bank on Chicago's north side, pulled a device from a black box and put it on a desk, saying it was a bomb. He then put on a ski mask and handed a teller a bag, demanding it be filled with money, the agents wrote in an affidavit.
Royko said he had a remote-control device that could detonate the bomb if anyone tried to stop him, but an off-duty Chicago police officer working as a guard slapped the device out of Royko's hand and arrested him, the agents said.
Royko was charged in a criminal complaint with attempted bank robbery.
The device was made up of two pipes, nails, a circuit board and duct tape, but no explosives, according to the agents.
Patrick O'Byrne, a defense attorney and family friend who accompanied Royko to court, told reporters that ``this case is a bank robbery but what the case is really about is an American tragedy alcohol and drug abuse, which touches almost every family in America.''
He said Royko had a longtime drinking problem.
``He has some demons, like everyone,'' O'Byrne said. He said Royko has a wife and four children ``and as I talk to you know they're crying.''
According to O'Byrne, Royko has been working as an insurance salesman and previously owned a music shop and played guitar in a rock band.
Linda Amdur, an attorney from the Federal Defender Program brought in to represent Royko at his initial appearance, said she would have no immediate comment. O'Byrne said he would take over the defense on Tuesday and that Royko would plead innocent.
Mike Royko, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist who worked for three Chicago newspapers, died eight years ago.
Ping
ah, now there's a way to honor your father's memory....
B.S.
Probably more about growing up as a left-wing indoctrinee than anything.
Yup, and too lazy to go into politics apparently.
I see the jackass doesn't fall far from the tree.
I am a recovering alcoholic, sober, by the grace of God for 23 years. If I had robbed a bank in my drunkeness it still would have been my responsibility.
Mike Royko was one of the best columnists ever.
He could be humorous but he was a flaming lib.
I don't agree. He'd ridicule politicians of all stripes- mostly Daley I and Jesse Jackson, but he never promoted a liberal agenda that I can remember. How many liberals mock ebonics and say the worse thing about Mexico is that its run by Mexicans.
*beep beep* FR post bot on!!!
INSERT COMMENT ABOUT BEING CHILD OF LEFT WINGER
IGNORE SCREW UP KIDS OF CONSERVATIVES
*beep beep beep* FR post bot off!!
Maybe, but he was pretty honest. Without his reporting we would have no detailed knowledge of how the democrat machine works in Chicago.
Royko quotes:
Hey, Dennis, this is Mike! Kick me, please! I'll settle for the price of a set of golf clubs.
I never went to a John Wayne movie to find a philosophy to live by or to absorb a profound message. I went for the simple pleasure of spending a couple of hours seeing the bad guys lose.
It's been my policy to view the Internet not as an 'information highway,' but as an electronic asylum filled with babbling loonies.
The subject of criminal rehabilitation was debated recently in City Hall. It's an appropriate place for this kind of discussion because the city has always employed so many ex-cons and future cons.
When I asked him how long he had been driving a taxi, he said, Dree mouse.
Whether one eats a cat or not is a personal choice, and I don't want to sway anyone one way or another. But if you do, there is one obvious cooking tip: Always remember to remove the bell from the cat's collar before cooking.
It's unnatural for people to run around the city streets unless they are thieves or victims. It makes people nervous to see someone running. I know that when I see someone running on my street, my instincts tell me to let the dog go after him.
Royko was very socially conservative - he wrote several outstanding columns about pro-life issues, especially partial-birth abortion. He was also quite funny, a real gifted writer all around. Sad that his son turned out to be such a loser.
IIRC, he was tough on Clinton.
He was always my favorite columnist when I lived in Illinois. He was very gifted and said things no one else would, like how judges fix cases through crooked lawyers. (The best written judicial decisions are often paid for while badly written ones - though innnocent - were considered bought.)
I don't think anyone was his equal. I don't recall being offended by his so-called liberal views. I don't recall that happening, but I left Illinois a long time ago.
Many times the sons of celebrities are major screw ups.
Lib, maybe, but not flaming. I enjoyed Mike's columns. Felt almost as sad when he died as I did when Lewis Grizzard passed away.
Well, I said "almost". :^)
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