The district psychiatrist has solutions: Christopher Miller was released from prison after 15 years for violently robbing a shoe store, and 24 hours later he returned to the same store and robbed it a second time.
The New York Daily News reports that in 1999, Miller entered a children's shoe store in Toms River, New Jersey, and after threatening the two store clerks and tying them up in the back storage room, he robbed the cash register and fled. The robbery went wrong, and Miller was caught a short time later, tried, and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
A few days ago, Miller finished serving his full sentence and was released from prison. Shortly thereafter, 24 hours to be exact, Miller boarded a bus that took him to the shoe store he robbed 15 years ago and robbed it again. Miller, a lover of déjà vu, apparently wasn't satisfied with returning to the store, but rather recreated the robbery from then on: he threatened the two salespeople [who have since been replaced], tied them up in the back storeroom, and robbed $389 from the cash register. In this case, too, Miller was caught shortly afterward and transferred to prison where he is awaiting trial, which will include - in addition to the robbery offense - violating the terms of his release.
What is behind the man's puzzling actions? Toms River Police Chief Mitchell Little told NBC News that "Miller may be looking to return to his prison, which he considers home." That's why he rushed to rob the same store in the same way, hoping to recreate the process that led him to his prison cell about 15 years ago.
Miller's action reminds us in a way that cannot be ignored of the parable of Rabbi Yonah: "The chief of the prison came and saw that the underground had been destroyed, and that man was still arrested. He struck him with his staff, saying to him: 'It is a difficult day, isn't the underground destroyed before you, and how could you not have hurried to escape for your life?'".
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