Attempting to Pay His Mortgage

“I had to get us out of this,” the elderly man said from the other side of the glass at San Diego central jail. “I’ve never done a bad thing in my life. But when you get desperate, I guess you throw all that sh– out the window.”

Listening to how Michael Casey Wilson of Santee tells it, a 17 percent mortgage, the threat of homelessness and a terminal health condition will turn a man to crime.

Wilson, 69, is accused of walking into the Bank of America branch in the 4100 block of El Cajon Boulevard in City Heights and handing a bank manager a demand note, saying he had a bomb. Prosecutors said he made off with $107,000 before he was caught lying on a front porch near the bank.

“I wrote them an apology. I am so sorry,” he said referring to the employees who rushed out of the bank. “It’s not my purpose in life to scare people.”

“If it would’ve worked the way I wanted it to, it would’ve just been he and I. But he told everybody. He shouldn’t have done that,” Wilson said.

On Thursday he pleaded not guilty to three counts of robbery and one count of falsely reporting a bomb to a business. In an interview Friday, Wilson was very open about the plan he had hatched to save his home.

“I was hoping to get $50,000 to pay off my mortgage,” he said. “Just to get the money and get the hell out of there.”

Wilson said he had planned to hail a taxi and drive with the bank manager to the airport. Once the manager was gone, Wilson said he had hoped to pick up another taxi to take him to his home in Santee. But he said he never thought the bank manager “had the balls to call the police.”

“I saw all of a sudden all the people rushing out and I knew I was had,” he said. “I knew that he had called me in. C’est la vie.”

Wilson said he lives with his 73-year old wife, who he described as a “gentle soul.” He said he feared for her future living on the streets if he couldn’t make their house payment.

Looking at Wilson, you can see his health is suffering. He claims doctors have diagnosed him with severe arthritis, sleep apnea, heart problems, and a disease he described as one “that makes you fly off the handle.” Wilson said he was told he had one to two years to live.

When he hatched the bank robbery plan, he said that he had considered the consequences but thought, “It was 50-50. Well if I get caught, I get caught. I’m dying anyway so what different does it make.”

Wilson could face more than seven years in prison if he is convicted. His bail was set at $50,000.

“Let’s face it,” he said. “Here’s a man who (screwed) up his life and his family’s life but I did it with good intentions. Just stupid intentions.”

How we start our day…

This is a very stressful period for all of us. The economy is in the tank, many of us are losing money and jobs, and there are wars all over the planet. Now that’s not news. So why mention it. Many of our friends and neighbors might have a tendency to let their inner stressful and fearful state manifest outward and spillover into the community. There’s already enough fear and anger. We don’t need more. When one manifests fear and anger it has an impact on the entire community. I firmly believe that we can maintain and enhance civility in these difficult times. But we have to work on ourselves first and not allow the anger, fear and rudeness of others to alter our more aware standard of behavior. One thing we can do is not focus on all the negatives that are out there. I found that one of the worse things you can do is awaken to the daily news. Nothing summons stress-causing agents more than those national and local news personalities reminding you of all the doom and gloom. Think about it, the first thing you hear is the body count from wars and natural catastrophes around the globe, or what poor person got shot or died in a car accident or fire the previous night. And, there is always the economic news. You may not want to admit it, but these harbingers of gloom imprint negative images and thoughts in our minds that travel with us the rest of the day. The business and news of the day is something that does need to be factored into your thoughts, but not the first thing in the morning. Most of us have a morning ritual. My advice is to examine yours and see how it impacts on your daily stress level and thought process. Ask yourself honest questions about it, and if you determine that it is negative or stressful in the slightest way, then change it. Let’s always present our better and higher selves to the world each day.