Unit Four
Arson Bank Heist
[based on actual events]
Getting Started
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Police arrested a man yesterday for setting fire to the Ford Bank on South 3rd street. Mark Adler, the suspect, was arrested after police caught him running away from the bank with a bag full of money. He was charged with arson and armed robbery.

Adler says he didn't do it. "I was just walking by when I saw that the bank was on fire. I opened the door and yelled, 'Is everybody okay?' That's when I saw the bag of money. I couldn't resist when I saw all that money." Adler says he then picked up the bag and began running. "I may have stolen the money,” he said, “but I didn't set the bank on fire.”

Several witnesses, however, gave testimony that they saw Adler hanging around the bank several hours before the fire with a blue backpack. Adler didn't have a backpack when he was arrested, and there was evidence of the blue material from a backpack at the scene of the crime. Police suspect that Adler used the backpack to hide a fire bomb.

The detectives who investigated this case got a search warrant and then searched Adler's house. The detectives found evidence which included a blueprint of the bank and also materials for making a fire bomb, the same kind of bomb that was used to set the bank on fire.

The Chief Detective said that when they interrogated the suspect, he kept changing his story about what happened. The suspect also did not have an alibi. He said he was with his girlfriend just before the crime, but when detectives spoke with her, she said she hadn't seen her boyfriend in a week.

Even though the suspect wasn't carrying a gun, the district attorney's office has charged him with armed robbery. “We classify the fire bomb as a weapon,” said the assistant D.A. (district attorney).

Mark Adler's case went to trial. He was convicted of arson and armed robbery, and sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Comprehension Questions
  1. What crimes was Mark Adler charged with?
  2. Why did the police arrest Mark Adler?
  3. What was Mark Adler's story to the police?
  4. What did the witnesses have to say about MarK?
  5. What evidence was found at the scene of the crime?
  6. What evidence did they find at Mark's house?
  7. Did Mark have an alibi? Explain.
  8. Mark didn't have a knife or gun, why was he charged with armed robbery?
  9. What was the result of Mark Adler's case after it went to trial?
Discussion
  1. You are getting off a train in a subway. You see a big bag of money sitting by a bench. No one is around. You wait ten minutes. No one shows. What do you do?
  2. In some places in America, lost items that have been found by someone can be turned in to the local Police. If the item isn't claimed within 90 days, the item becomes the property of the person who found it. Do you have similar laws in your country?
  3. A stranger approaches you and says he will give you $200,000 if you take his briefcase to a certain location and leave it there and walk away. He asks you not to look inside the case. He will give you half the money now and half later at another specified place. What will you do?