--- description: On both occasions, he did not attempt to flee or resist arrest title: Washington Man Robs Banks to Avoid Being Homeless image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Washington Man Robs Banks to Avoid Being Homeless  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Apr 15, 2015 3:31 PM CUT  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Apr 15, 2015 3:31 PM CUT A Washington state man who robs banks to avoid being homeless has struck again. He stole $1 from a bank on Monday and waited outside to be arrested, the [_Bellingham Herald_](http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2015/04/14/4240889%5Fpolice-bellingham-man-tries-to.html?rh=1 "undefined") reports. Richard Kenneth Gorton, from Bellingham, Wash., handed a note to the teller in Key Bank in Fairhaven, Wash. saying he was robbing the bank for $1\. The note explained that Gorton, 64, had no weapons and didn’t want to hurt anyone. After being handed the dollar, he waited outside for police to arrest him, Bellingham Police Sgt. Mike Scanion told the _Herald_. He was initially charged with suspicion of robbery, but the county prosecutor dropped the charge down to theft in the third degree on Tuesday. Six months earlier, [on Oct. 14](http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/10/14/3912058/bellingham-bank-robber-waits-outside.html "undefined"), Gorton walked into a bank and handed over a note saying: “This is a robbery.” He asked for $1,400 and waited for police to arrive and arrest him. He told police he would soon be homeless because he hadn’t paid his rent. Until that incident, Gorton had no criminal history. \[[_Bellingham Herald_](http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2015/04/14/4240889%5Fpolice-bellingham-man-tries-to.html?rh=1 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3822541/bellingham-bank-robbery-arrest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3822541/bellingham-bank-robbery-arrest/"},"headline":"Washington Man Robs Banks to Avoid Being Homeless","datePublished":"2015-04-15T15:31:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:24:41.205Z","description":"On both occasions, he did not attempt to flee or resist arrest","url":"https://time.com/3822541/bellingham-bank-robbery-arrest/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naina Bajekal","jobTitle":"Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3822541/bellingham-bank-robbery-arrest/","name":"Washington Man Robs Banks to Avoid Being Homeless"}}]}] ```