Elderly Man Says He Robbed Bank to Pay Medical Bills. Okay, so he does have a criminal history, so we can't make the obvious assumption that health care in American is SO bad the eldery are reduced to robbing banks. But what is going on here? I can't imagine my grandparents, when they were in their seventies, robbing banks. Hell, once my grandfather was driving three miles over the speed limit. He was clocked by radar gun and pulled over. My grandmother, not knowing what a radar gun was, thought the cop was shooting at them. I think that might actually be the documentary I want to make: How do eldery criminals survive? Do they run penny scams during bingo night or do they run some kind of protection racket for other residents in the nursing homes?