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Career Change: Lawyer Turned ... Bank Robber?

By Betty Wang, JD on September 25, 2013 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

There's nothing like a good old-fashioned robbery followed by a shoot-up, right? Here's one especially made for our sector: an alleged attorney from Wentzville, Missouri has been charged with both robbery and shooting a trooper while fleeing, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

It's been quite a couple of weeks in terms of lawyers (or in some cases, would-be lawyers) making our profession proud. From the naked attorney who ended up in a woman's bedroom and then subsequently got tased, to the law student pulled out of school to be charged with forcible rape. Joining the recent ranks of these fine folks now comes Warren Gladders.

According to many legal websites, reports the Dispatch, 64-year-old Gladders received his law degree from Washington University.

Gladders is accused of robbing the First Bank of Dutzow last Friday morning. According to authorities, Gladders walked inside the bank and pulled out a handgun. He told the tellers not to put dye packs in the cash, and then forced the employees to fan the bills at the counter to confirm this. Then, he ordered them to go inside the vault to bring him more money, which he stuffed into a duffel bag and ran out with.

Luckily, a bank patron's wife who was waiting outside witnessed the robbery and called the authorities with a description of Gladders' getaway car. A shootout then ensued on the highway with Gladders and the trooper attempting to pull him over. Repots say both sides shot at each other.

Gladders was shot in both legs, while a bullet lodged in the bullet-proof vest of the trooper. Luckily, however, neither were fatally harmed.

He has been charged with robbery in the first-degree, first-degree assault against a law enforcement officer, armed criminal action, and possession of an illegal firearm, with a bail set at $500,000.

While there is absolutely nothing funny about a situation as grave as a bank robbery and a shootout, the question still begs to be asked -- what prompted Gladders to initiate such a string of awful events? According to the Dispatch, he had absolutely no criminal record, save for a few traffic tickets, up until these charges.

Let's be real, you're wondering the same: did the state of the legal job market have anything to do with it?

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