Posted on 06/01/2011 2:28:01 PM PDT by Teflonic
SARASOTA, Fla. - A bank customer turned hero Tuesday afternoon, when an Army Staff Sergeant on vacation helped sheriff's deputies catch an armed bank robber.
It happened around 2:30pm at the Bank of America on Bee Ridge Road at Beneva Road in Sarasota.
Staff Sergeant Eddie Peoples was at the bank with his children, when a robber walked in waving a gun and demanding money. Peoples and his family quickly took cover until the suspect left.
And that's when Peoples says instinct took over. “Once he walked out of the bank and my children were no longer in jeopardy, I walked out behind him, got in my vehicle, came over where he was parked at, wedged him in…when he got out of the vehicle he put the gun in my face and told me he was going to shoot me. I took the weapon away from him, took the bag of money away from him, put him on the ground, and the deputies showed up,” says Peoples.
Thanks to his heroic actions, deputies were able to arrest the suspect, 34-year-old Matthew Rogers.
Rogers has a long rap sheet, with charges including burglary and auto theft.
Peoples, a Sarasota native, says he was just doing the right thing and that his training in the Army has prepared him to handle anything. “This is an everyday thing for the U.S. Army. I've been deployed 4 times; three to Iraq, once to Kuwait…so I've had my share of getting shot at and everything, so it just doesn't bother me anymore. I just couldn't let him get away with this.”
Yes and no. . .he is a non-commissioned officer.
Sgt. Peoples didn't murder the perp in cold blood. He'll have no legal problem.
The fact that he didn't kill him immediately, doesn't suddenly make the perp an innocent victim. Nor does it magically transform the pharmacist from someone protecting his life and property to a cold-blooded killer.
An argument can be made the Pharmacist overreacted, and maybe should have received a lengthy probation to make sure he doesn't get into any more trouble, but suggesting that he deserves life for what he did is ridiculous.
And I am all grown-up.
The caption is half correct; SSG Peoples us a NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER (NCO). Most “journalists are ignorant of anything that pertains to the military.
That’s right, keep digging.......
Based on the Missouri tornado incident, probably none. What does this have to do with the Missouri tornado? Exactly no more and no less than the Oklahoma pharmacy does.
Guess if he had a partner and 30-round mags and wearing SWAT gear it would have been O.K. >PS
I don’t know everything about US military ranks, but I did know that Staff Sergeant was a non-com rank.
At least for me, somebody who is a sergeant has a achieved the most respectable rank.
The non-coms earn their ranks more then the others.
I don’t mind getting slammed for what I said. What I said was unfair and inaccurate, kinda like the cheap shots that have been taken towards me.
Exactly correct. Those who write the headlines often mess them up by such mistakes. It used to be that there was an experienced editor that read such headlines and corrected them. In today’s media, the old hands that were any good have been long retired or are dead. The younger “journalists” are clueless.
It shouldn’t surprise anybody. We’re two generations from the last world war and these kids are taught jack about the military when the go to college.
That is exactly what I was thinking, he should be awarded the Soldier’s Medal.
His crime was becoming judge, jury and executioner.
Back in '09 when it happened, I frame-synced the two interior camera tapes. After coming back inside, at no time does the pharmacist evidence any hint of perceiving the kid as a threat. He does go into "hunt and destroy" mode and advances continuously up to within the kid's "threat" reach while dumping lead into him.
No one said the kid was an "innocent victim". If Ersland had left the kid's fate to the courts -- or his first bullet -- (IOW not taken the law into his own hands) he would have been in the clear.
BTW, I understand they caught the armed punk. Murder one for him should be a slam dunk...
Also FWIW, when hit in the head by the .380, "Antwun" fell forward, face-down. When Ersland walked past and when he was hosing him, he was standing within inches of the kid's head...
It it is tricky to try to describe his state of mind. I seriously doubt that he premeditated murder.
When he got hit in the head, good chance he stopped being Antwun.
If the kid fell forward face down how ws he shot in the front by Ersland.
Did he roll over? If so, how was his arm "under him" -- as Ersland tesified?
That part always seemed strange - that's why I checked how he fell -- by single frame analysis.
.380 slugs from a Kel-TecP3AT probably did not exit his body. The autopsy should be dispositive as to entrance-surface and direction of travel...
No doubt, all that evidence was presented at trial. The jury had better info than we have...
Well if what you say is true and I believe it was reported that the kid was shot in the front then I think it is possible he moved. For me that is good enough to say he could still be a trheat.
I would not have convicted him. I believe that the role of the jury is to judge both the facts and the law. I find the law lacking.
Glad most perps don’t know you should never get so close to someone as to be disarmed.
When we had conscription during WW2 and into Vietnam, it did give a lot of adolescents a taste of discipline and responsibility and accountability that's lacking in today's kids. The professional military has been good because motivated people with skills are retained. The bad side is that the youngsters that would have done a three year active duty and three years’ active, inactive reserves now do no service at all. The active duty personnel, NG, and reserves are drawn from a wading pool instead of an Olympic-size pool.
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