Limping Bandit

Cecil Stephen Haire, 51, of Douglas, Ga., has had a limp since he was a child with polio. Many handicapped people seem almost invisible because so many people want to look the other way or not stare. That was in Haire's favor until recently.

Haire would enter a bank and even wait in line for a teller. He would then show a gun and demand money. He would also threaten to shoot them if they gave him a dye pack or tracking device. This also deterred most from setting an alarm immediately or attempting to follow him to get his direction. Haire would limp out of the bank. He wasn't running to get away. He could turn a few corners and just blend in.

Haire is distinguished now, by his limp. As he was making a recent getaway from a Charleston, S.C. bank a witness did record his Georgia license plate number as he left. Now he is charged with robbing 12 South Carolina banks, five in Florida, and three each in Alabama and Georgia. In 1986 Haire was sentenced to 20 years for armed robbery. He served only seven of those 20.