Stupid Aussies, part 1 - Me and my stupid mate

Me and my stupid mate

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/06/12/1118514927434.html?from=top5

June 13, 2005

An irrational robbery is set to ruin the lives of two young men who should have known better, writes Robert Wainwright.

AUSTRALIANS are making a big mark overseas, but for once it is for all the wrong reasons. Criminal feats of petulance, stupidity and just plain evil are quickly overwhelming the triumphant deeds of skill on the international sporting field and generosity in humanitarian aid.

While Schapelle Corby continues to argue her innocence from a Denpasar prison, the international spotlight has also fallen on the heroin trails of the Bali nine, Russell Crowe's short fuse and the unfathomable ineptitude of two teenage Australian bank robbers, Anthony Prince and Luke Carroll.

We know how, when and where, but three months after two teenagers from the sleepy surfing town of Byron Bay robbed a bank in the ski resort town of Vail, Colorado, and escaped with $US130,000 ($170,000), we still don't know why they did it or why they thought they would get away with one of the most ham-fisted robberies in memory.

The 19-year-olds face 25 years in jail for a robbery that most who know them say was larrikinism gone mad.

Anthony Prince will appear in a federal court on Wednesday to formally enter a plea. His lawyer, Warren Williamson, says Prince will plead guilty to the crime in the hope of a reduced sentence - perhaps five years - and the chance to serve it at home under a prisoner exchange program, rather than at a federal prison in the US. Luke Carroll is expected to do the same a week later.

It would be difficult to enter any other plea, considering the weight of evidence and public ridicule levelled at the pair since details of their exploits became known, not to mention the public apology issued within days of the robbery by Prince's distraught parents, Peter and Jennifer.

"We are the parents of Anthony Prince, one of the two boys who robbed the WestStar Bank last Monday," it read. "We are so sorry for the damage inflicted on your community by this event. We offer our sincere and unconditional apologies to the people of Vail and especially to the two female employees of the WestStar Bank.

"We also apologise to the local family and to the staff at Pepi Sport who sponsored Anthony and provided the opportunity for employment. We fail to comprehend how our son, who was raised in a family with strong ethical values and all the love and support in the world, could contemplate such an act. We will never understand the reason why. We know this act was so out of character for Anthony and we know that his remorse is absolute. Our thoughts are with you all."

The absurdity of the crime is detailed partly in court documents and filled out by witness statements and media interviews which have emerged in the wake of the robbery, labelled "Dumb and Dumber".

Just before 10am on March 21, the pair walked into the WestStar Bank brandishing a pellet gun bought from a Wal-Mart, manhandled a cashier and ordered another to fill up a bag with cash from the vault.

Although wearing masks, the attempts to cover their Australian accents failed dismally. Neither had they bothered to take off name tags used by employees at a sports store that had sponsored their working holiday.

Shaken staff, one of whom later resigned, told police their voices were "disguised but familiar and with a European or Australian accent".

The young men had been in the bank before. A cashier, Kim Vasquez, recognised them. WestStar Bank's president and chief executive, Dan Godec, said it took less than a couple of hours to work out who was behind the masks: "With their accents and descriptions, we had a good feel of who we thought they were."

It didn't take local detectives long to finger Prince and Carroll. The pair, who had arrived in the town last November, had been arrested two months earlier after a neighbour had reported them for firing air pistols and paintball guns at houses. "I think these guys have seen too many Ned Kelly films," the neighbour, Jim Donovan, quipped.

The description, including their accents, was passed onto the FBI and radioed to police patrols.
The next day the fun really started. Prince and Carroll were spotted making their way through security at Denver Airport after buying one-way tickets to Mexico. Again, it was their accents that gave them away.

Detective Greg Faciane, on duty at the security desk, had been given a flier with photographs of the robbery suspects only a few minutes before the pair sauntered towards him.

He let them through the metal detectors then asked a security screener to talk to them to determine whether they had accents and to check their passports. "When I was sitting there, I made eye contact with one of them and just got a feeling," he told the media later.

The arrest was immediate and without incident. The confessions came swiftly after police found $US9800 on Carroll and another $US33,000 stashed in a backpack dumped in a garbage bin outside the airport. Most of the cash, however, was in Prince's luggage.

Since their arrest, details have filtered out about the fun-filled hours immediately after the robbery. Apparently they used snowboards as initial getaway vehicles, travelling several kilometres out of town to get to their car. A quick change of clothes and they were off on a spending spree which defies belief. First stop was a McDonald's, where they took a series of "gansta" photos of themselves in the toilets, posing with guns and money. Police later found the digital camera with the pictures still on the memory chip.

The next day they walked into a jewellery shop in Denver, two hours west of Vail, and tried to buy a $US30,000 Rolex watch. Not only did the sales assistant think the request was strange, but the means of payment - cash in 6000 $5 notes - was enough for her to threaten to call the police. Prince and Carroll took the hint, left and went to another shop to buy diamonds before renting a limousine to take them to the airport. Their smiles, recorded on airport CCTV cameras, were soon wiped as their world fell apart.

Back in Byron Bay and Lismore, where the two men grew up, there is still disbelief and wonder at the chain of events. Mates and class colleagues from Trinity Catholic College in Lismore, where Prince graduated in 2003, variously describe him as the class clown, likeable and agreeable, who wrote in his final year book of an ambition to "have a successful career in something I love and enjoy".

"He was a bit of a larrikin, I mean he wasn't the studious type. But I don't think anyone expected him to rob a bank," a former classmate, William Richey, says.

Nick Russo, an old school friend, said people who knew the boys were still searching for an answer: "He [Prince] was always a bit of a troublemaker but nothing serious. I think he once got into trouble for stealing some lollies but it wasn't a big deal.

"We are all still wondering why. The only thing I can think of is that they might have been a bit strapped for money in a town where people around them were spending up big. They did something thoughtless without considering the gravity. It's pretty sad really. I think his girlfriend, Clare, is doing it tough. They have been together for a couple of years."

Russo had met Luke Carroll, a former student at the nearby Marist St Johns College Woodlawn, but didn't know him well. The link between the pair appeared to have been a love of surfing.

Jeremy Harrison, who knew Prince during nine years of their schooling, was forced to shut down a website blog because of local anger about the case. "People were a bit upset about the whole thing. It's pretty embarrassing and seems totally out of character."

One of Prince's closest friends, Brett Nebelung, a Ballina labourer, said the pair had saved hard for the trip, working two jobs to pay for the air fares.

Carroll's family has not spoken publicly but acquaintances are equally perplexed by their behaviour. "Never been in trouble" and "out of character" are common refrains from those who know him.

Even the lawyers are saying little. Warren Williamson says Prince is hoping that accepting responsibility for the crime will help reduce the inevitable jail sentence.

"I think he's trying to make the best of a bad situation," Williamson commented after his client's initial court appearance … He's trying not to waste his time. He's doing everything he can to turn this into a constructive experience. He's behaving himself in jail and staying in touch with family and friends."

Carroll's lawyer, Daniel Smith, is even less forthcoming, refusing to say what length of sentence he would try to negotiate. "He's just fine," Smith snapped, perhaps understating the situation just a little.