Bank robbery replay.

Andrew Green, a landscaper in Fort Pierce, Florida, has been a customer of the Riverside National Bank in nearby Jensen Beach for about seven years. On June 2nd, he was in the bank when a man demanded money from a teller and then fled with a substantial amount of cash. The bank was quickly shut down, and Green was constrained to remain inside with the other customers while authorities launched their investigation of the robbery.

For weeks thereafter, Green wondered if there was something he could have done to thwart the robbery. On July 26th, he had another chance to find out.

At around 11:30 a.m., while he was waiting in line to deposit a check, a teller suddenly screamed, "He robbed us!" She was referring to the man, later identified as Thomas Poisal, standing in line ahead of Green. Poisal had said he was armed and had ordered the teller to give him money, though investigators subsequently determined that he was unarmed. The teller handed over a stack of $20 bills that Poisal stuffed into a front pocket before casually walking out of the bank. Not until the teller screamed did Green and the other customers realize what had happened.

As bank employees began locking down the building, Green bolted outside. "This time, I didn't want to get locked in," he recalled for the next day's Palm Beach Post. He saw Poisal meandering across the bank's parking lot and began trailing him. "At first I just wanted to follow him, so I could identify him to the police," Green told the July 27th Fort Pierce Tribune. "He was walking across the parking lot so nonchalantly and was changing his clothes as he walked."

Poisal removed his hat and stuffed it in a plastic bag, then, about 200 yards from the bank, began removing his t-shirt. Green took that opportunity to rush Poisal, wrestle him to the ground, and place him in bear hug. Assisted by another (unidentified) witness, Green pinned Poisal until sheriff's deputies arrived moments later. "'He struggled a little on the way down," Green told the Post. "He looked a little shocked. He hadn't looked behind him a single time in the parking lot."

Lt. Mike McKinley of the Martin County sheriff's office told the July 27th Stuart News, "It was bibbity-bam, bibbity-boom. [Poisal's] got to know he had a very poor decision-making process today." Deputies recovered $2,000 from the beleaguered bandit. Sgt. John Cummings told reporters that the sheriff's office generally frowns on citizens who take it upon themselves to apprehend suspects who could be armed and dangerous, but agreed that on this occasion it ended well.

According to a sheriff's report, Poisal admitted to the robbery, telling deputies that he "made a huge mistake" because he "was down on his luck and needed money." He was charged with armed bank robbery, but authorities were also considering federal charges.

Green says he probably wouldn't have reacted as he did had he not experienced the earlier robbery. "The first time I was really frustrated for not helping," he reflected. "But this time was great. Your adrenaline really gets pumping and you don't realize what you're doing." He remains amazed by the coincidence, however. "What," he wonders, "are the odds of this happening twice'?"