Get the Money and Run | Life and Crimes

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Burden S4E4 – "Get the Money and Run | Life and Crimes"

Host: Orbit Media (Ben Adair, Steve Fishman)
Guest: Joe Loya (former bank robber)
Date: May 20, 2025

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Overview

In this gripping episode, Orbit Media continues its deep dive into the chaotic, adrenaline-fueled life of Joe Loya—once dubbed the most prolific bank robber in Southern California. Through firsthand stories, candid confessions, and the perspectives of those affected, "Life and Crimes" (Episode 4) explores both the calculated bravado and profound consequences of Loya’s criminal career. The episode peels back layers on the psychological and emotional landscape of both the perpetrator and his victims, driving home the complex humanity at the heart of notorious crimes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The First Vault: A Rocky Start

[02:21–05:29]

• Joe recounts his first attempt at robbing a vault—December, expecting more cash, only scored $10,000.
• In a bold but amateur move, he returns to rob the same bank just two months later, thinking he could pull it off more smoothly, but is instantly recognized and foiled by vigilant staff—the reality check: “I was not happy with the way it went and really recognizing that I was an amateur.” (Joe Loya, 04:35)

2. Easy Jobs and Inside Jobs?

[05:29–08:23]

• Easiest target: a tiny Orange County mall bank, devoid of customers or a manager; two tellers comply effortlessly.
• In another case, a teller starts handing over money before Joe can even finish his threat, leading him to muse about possible inside-job confusion:

  “Maybe her boyfriend told her, ‘Hey, I’m sending Sammy in this afternoon...’ And so she thought I was Sammy.” (Joe Loya, 07:40)

3. The Trickiest and Most Frustrating Robberies

[08:32–12:39]

• One San Diego episode: Joe robs two banks back-to-back out of frustration—getting just $1,200 from a resisting teller, only to try his luck next door.
• He highlights the psychological game:

  “As much as I want to terrorize people, if they don’t want to be terrorized, they’re not going to be terrorized... I have to rely that I’m persuasive enough with my rage.” (Joe Loya, 10:45)

4. The Highs: Skill and Rewards

[12:39–17:49]

• A moment of pride: pulling off a successful robbery even with a security guard present at a grand La Jolla bank.
• The biggest single-day take: $32,000 from a Tustin savings and loan, using intimidation and precise timing.
• The personal thrill is clear, but so is cinematic influence and ego:

  “When I saw the movie Public Enemies with Johnny Depp...I was like, man, that looks sexy as fuck. And I was like, I did that: fedora, trench coat. I’m that dude, right?” (Joe Loya, 16:33)

• When asked how it felt to get that much money:

  “Felt good. I mean, I love you, homeboy, that’s the stupidest question.” (Joe Loya, 17:37)

5. Getting Away, Sometimes by Sheer Luck

[20:04–28:28]

• After a four-bank spree and a $50,000 haul, Joe’s car overheats in the one stretch along Camp Pendleton where there’s nowhere to hide.
• Interactions with police highlight his improvisational charm:
  • He feigns innocence, uses sexist small-talk to bond with officers, and gets a ride—even with the stolen cash on him.
  • The absurdity dawns on everyone:

    “So those two guys had me in the back seat of the car...The next morning these guys come into work and...I wonder, do those cops say, ‘Oh, we gotta go tell them we had them?’ Or did they say, ‘keep our mouths fucking shut, don’t tell anybody.’” (Joe Loya, 26:20)

6. The Victim’s Voice: The Weight of Threat

[28:44–34:16]

• A former bank teller (unnamed) shares her harrowing experience of being robbed by Joe. She describes:
  • The icy threat:

    “He whispered it to me and he took off: ‘I’m coming back to get you.’… She fell to the ground crying... I never forgot his face.” (Unnamed Teller, 28:44–32:49)

  • Lingering trauma: panic attacks, nightmares, safety fears lasting two months.
  • Despite it all, her Catholic faith grants her some ability to forgive:

    “If I could say anything to him, I would say, good luck. Life is better when you’re living it right, not bad.” (Unnamed Teller, 33:41)

  • She wishes only reassurance in return:

    “Maybe just [wish] it wasn’t personal, had nothing to do with me, and he’s not going to come back to get me.” (Unnamed Teller, 34:16)

7. Joe’s Shame and Remorse

[34:31–38:40]

• Hearing the teller’s story, Joe is visibly shaken:

  “I feel terrible… I know it wasn’t a victimless crime. That’s really…to hear it in that concrete way. I struggle sometimes… where I feel the weakest is in my regret and shame for the way I treated women.” (Joe Loya, 34:34–36:11)

• He describes the shame as chronic, like tinnitus—sometimes low, sometimes high, always there.
• Joe’s regret is deepened by memories of his mother and the shame he feels for violating the trust of “good women.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I was not happy with the way it went and really recognizing that I was an amateur. I’m not impressed.”
  — Joe Loya on his early failed robbery ([04:35])

• “It almost felt like…she knew. Like, oh yeah, Sammy, wink, wink…”
  — Joe Loya, pondering inside job confusion ([07:40])

• “As much as I want to terrorize people, if they don’t want to be terrorized, they’re not going to be terrorized.”
  — Joe Loya outlines the limits of his intimidation ([10:45])

• “The biggest haul…32,000 plus. My biggest haul.”
  — Joe Loya, counting his winnings ([17:33])

• “I was like, I did that fedora, trench coat. I’m that dude, right?”
  — Joe Loya, on cinematic inspiration ([16:33])

• “He whispered it to me: ‘I’m coming back to get you.’ And then he took off. … I never forgot his face.”
  — Unnamed former bank teller ([28:44–32:49])

• “No. … It’s like tinnitus. It’s always there.”
  — Joe Loya, on whether the shame ever leaves ([36:15])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:21 | Joe recounts the first vault robbery | | 05:29 | Easy/strange bank heists and “inside job” suspicions | | 08:32 | San Diego robbery double-header (two banks, one rage) | | 12:39 | First signs of real skill: the La Jolla “Greek temple” bank | | 13:57 | The biggest single payday: Tustin Savings, $32,000 haul | | 20:04 | Four banks in one day, $50,000, stuck on the i5 with police | | 28:44 | The former teller’s story: fear, trauma, and survivor’s perspective | | 34:31 | Joe’s emotional response and reflections on regret/shame |

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Tone & Style Notes

The episode delivers high-paced, darkly humorous, and unflinchingly candid storytelling. Joe is charismatic, frequently irreverent, and almost cinematic in self-reflection. But this bravado is sharply undercut by the victims’ trauma and Joe’s raw expressions of shame—creating a powerful, unsettling juxtaposition that’s both riveting and sobering.

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Conclusion

In this episode, “Life and Crimes,” The Burden forces the listener to wrestle alongside Joe Loya with the conflicted legacy of violent acts: the thrill and the fallout, the seductive sense of power and the gnawing, inescapable shame. By including both the perpetrator’s insight and the victim's enduring trauma, the podcast refuses to allow easy answers—or easy villainy.

Next up: The saga continues in Episode Five: “Two Too Many.”

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Transcript

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[Steve Fishman]

Joe Loya has agreed to answer our questions, so please send yours to infoorbitmedia FM or leave them in the comments on Spotify or Apple. Thank you. Hi there, it's Steve Fishman from Orbit Media and this is get the Money and Run. In today's episode, Episode four, Joe recounts his glorious days of bank robbing. He robbed more than 30 banks in one 14 month spree. And I admit, he sure makes bank robbing sound like fun. Remember to binge all seven episodes ad free. Subscribe to True Crime Clubhouse on Apple Podcasts. Okay, over to Ben.

[Ben Adair]

You are listening to The Burden Season 4, get the Money and Run. I'm Ben Adair and this is episode four Life and Crimes. When did you rob your first vault?

[Joe Loya]

That was December and I was pissed that I only got $10,000 with six bricks of money, but I was like, hey, I know how to do this. Now let me, you know, let me go, you know, two months later, let me try it again. I mean I was let me get six other bricks of money. So I do the same thing. I walk in the same front door, not the back.

[Ben Adair]

You came to the same exact bank.

[Joe Loya]

Same freaking bank. And I don't know why did you do that? I was telling you I had scored here. I had gotten into the Place easily. I just took the wrong amount of loot. So I'm like, I'm gonna do this again. It was easy. I now to dance in there easier. I'm not going to be coming to the front. I can concentrate more on the money. Rip open the thing, see what, see what I'm pulling out that kind of thing. Before I take the money, I feel like, confident this time I'm going to get 20s and 50s and hundreds. I walk in, I walk up to a woman who's at the front of the bank and I tell her, take me to the phone. But then I look over to my right and all the staff are on me. They're looking at me, me. They're on the phone. They're like, what? I like, everyone has clocked me coming in and I realized, oh, like, I can't go one more minute in here, man. I like, they stop me. They. They blocked me. That, that, that vault, man. They're like, you ain't getting that vault again. They recognized me instantly. And I thought I was just like. I actually had a feeling, a, you know, expectation that I could just blend in. I could just walk in with the rest of the people and just walk up, man. They were. They had the beat on me as soon as I walked in the front door. And so I just walked right out. I thought it was like kind of a sexy bank robber because, you know, look at, I had these clothes and a couple times I did some funny or, you know, I did some cool getaway things. But I was. I was not happy with the way it went and really recognizing that I was an amateur. I'm not impressed.

[Ben Adair]

Part one. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. Joe, what was the easiest bank you robbed?

[Joe Loya]

The easiest bank I robbed was actually in a mall, not like an indoor mall.

[Ben Adair]

It's like a walking Plaza Mall.

[Joe Loya]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was in Orange county somewhere. And I walk in and it's super tiny. I mean, the lobby is so small that basically there's two or three towers max. And then to the left in the lobby is a little patch of carpet and one little tiny desk on there for the manager or somebody. That's it. It's a little barely nothing bank. And when I walk in, no customers, no manager. There's just two women in the telestations there in their stools talking to each other. Head sideways talking to each other. I walk in, they look at me, I look around, and this is the most peculiar bank I've ever walked in. It's just. It's almost like it's pretending to be a bank. It's so skinny, so narrow. Tiny, little, cute lobby. And these two women are looking at me, and I'm looking at them, and I say, yeah, you know what this is? It's a robbery. Give me your money. Just like. I just, like, start walking up to them and, like, yeah, this is what.

[Ben Adair]

This.

[Joe Loya]

It was really peculiar. And they just start. They look at me, and just, like, I say, yeah, and I give. Maybe give my spiel, whatever. I don't have to do much to persuade them, like, let's do this. And they just start putting the money up. And they're putting the money up. So, like, I'm over here at this teller, and I'm dumping money in my bag, and I'm going to the other. Dumping money in my bag. Oh, you put some more money up. Let me go get that. And I'm like, I just collect the money, and I leave. The second other easiest robbery, but it was only one teller, was a bank. I walked in, and before I could finish my spiel, she started giving me the money.

[Ben Adair]

Like, you didn't even ask for the money. She just.

[Joe Loya]

I didn't even ask for, like, big bills first. Now she starts giving me the big bills first. And there was a moment where I was like, man, you might want to slow down. I thought, if anyone looks at these. This camera afterwards, they're gonna know that you gave me that money way too fast. And, like, without question, without resistance, I wasn't even done. They're gonna think we were in cahoots. That's what I thought. Like, it was that easy. And I think I. It almost felt like after, when I was trying to figure out, what was that? Why did that happen? Like, that. That was just too freaking easy. I thought, you know what? Maybe her boyfriend told her, hey, man, I'm sending Sammy in this afternoon, you know, and he's a Mexican dude, and he's gonna ask for the money. Just give it to him, and we can make out that way. And so she thought I was Sammy.

[Ben Adair]

You came in, she thought. She thought someone else was coming to rob her. It was an inside job, sort of just wrong guy, right?

[Joe Loya]

Just a guy who was outside of the inside. But, I mean, that's what it felt like. Almost like she knew. Like, oh, yeah, yeah, Sammy. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Here's the money. Thanks for coming in and making it look like a robbery.

[Ben Adair]

She gets home that night. She's like, where's my cut?

[Joe Loya]

So I go down to San Diego, and I decide that I'm going to rob a bunch of banks in one day. I get off the freeway, I'm parking at the corner of a bank parking lot, but that's not the bank I'm going to rob. I walked past this bank because the bank I want to rob was actually down there was a shrubbery and then there was an incline where I went decline into another parking lot where there was a bank.

[Ben Adair]

So there's two banks right next to each other.

[Joe Loya]

Two banks right next to each other, but they're on different levels and a small hill with crazy shrubbery. And so, you know, I had to kind of run down this through the shrubbery to get down there. Big bank. And that was a strange bank because when I walked in it's like it just opened. It was one of those things where I always like to rob early. And clearly I was the first customer. There's only one person in that bank and she was over here on the side at a desk talking to somebody. And she looks at me and I hear her say, well I gotta get going, I got a customer. And I realized that's my teller. She's out here in the lobby talking to somebody.

[Ben Adair]

Somebody on the phone. Oh, on the phone.

[Joe Loya]

She's on the phone talking to someone. There's only her and me in there, right? So when she's done, she's kind of far from me, you know, a couple desks down in the lobby, you know, far from me. So she gets off the phone and she now has to like walk further away from me to get to a door on my far left over there to get to the inside the tower station. And so I walk up to the tele station, she's a little short woman and she starts walking to me past Telestation 1, past Telestation 2. And I'm just sitting there watching this.

[Ben Adair]

It's like she was like going on a journey in order to get robbed.

[Joe Loya]

And so she's coming to me and you know, she's walking and I'm watching her still nobody walking in from the outside, still no customers walking in, still whatever. And I rob her. I basically like, this is a fucking robbery, give me the money now. I just like, don't make me pull the gun, you know, like, let's do this. And she is so angry at me, she is so pissed.

[Ben Adair]

Well, I mean she had to walk halfway around the block.

[Joe Loya]

I made her work to come over and just get robbed like. And the woman is resisting every way imaginable. I'm telling her, give me the big Bill, she's giving me the ones. I'm telling her, you know, whatever, any way she can resist. She's resisting. And I'm mad. And it shows you one thing. As much as I want to terrorize people, if they don't want to be terrorized, they're not going to be terrorized. And I'm not jumping over the counter. I'm not going to shoot them, I'm not going to pistol whip them. I have to rely that I'm persuasive enough with my rage to get them to do it. And this woman, for whatever reason, she wasn't persuaded. She made it super hard for me. And I could tell I wasn't even getting that much money. So I leave there mad. So I'm walking across the fucking parking lot, pissed off, walking through this shrubby motherfucking shrubbery, walking up the hill, walking across the parking lot, and I'm passing this bank on the way to my car. This is the first bank I passed to get to this bank. And I'm like, fuck it, man, let me rob this. And I walk in there and. And even though the cops are on the way with all this rage, knowing that I got a little money, pretty sure I've like thumbed through and realized, man, I may have only got 1200 bucks, you know, little chump change. And it fucking was long and hard to get that chump change. I got played. I walk in there and I rob that bank too. And I walk out and get away. And that was because I was mad. I was just mad. It was a funky bank robbery, man. So like, not all of them, are not all of them about, you know, look at me, man. Pristine. Will fucking, you know, forged my way and got what I wanted. Nah, that woman wasn't having it, man. She was. I may have been too nice on the way on her little journey to me and she's like, you're a fake, a fraud, man. Cut it out, Joe.

[Ben Adair]

At what point did you feel like, okay, I'm good at this, I'm rocking it. I'm a really good bank robber.

[Joe Loya]

La Jolla bank was gorgeous. It had pillars in it, like marble pillars in it, like a Greek temple kind of thing. It was crazy. It was like the most prestigious looking bank I robbed. And you would think I'd be intimidated, but I wasn't. And the reason I know I wasn't nervous and the reason I know I was adept, this one actually had a guard at the front door, right at the front door, inside, standing on a stool, the inside of the bank was circular, like almost. I say circular, but it was more like a horseshoe. And what I did is when I waited in line, I got called to the teller furthest from the guard at the front, off to the top of the horseshoe on the left hand side. And they had doors. There wasn't just one front door here. There were several door exits. So when I was done, I was able to just walk out of another exit back there. So I was able to rob that bank with a guard in it, walk away and never get chased.

[Ben Adair]

What's the most you ever got out of one bank?

[Joe Loya]

It was in Tustin. It was a savings and loan. And I'm wearing a fedora, trench coat. It's raining out, so I look goofy, but I don't look completely out of line. I mean, it's not like a summer, hot summer day. And like, why is that guy with the fedora and trench coat, you kind of understand. But I walk in, I walk to the manager's desk in the lobby. I tell her, we have a bomb, I have a gun. Take me to the vault. She opens the drawer, no problem. Grabs the key, gets up and starts walking me across the lobby, totally compliant. She calls a woman behind the counter and you know, she's like, whatever, Linda, meet me at the vault. And Linda's like, okay. And so she starts walking to the vault. We're walking across the lobby. The manager I'm with opens up the door, lets us into the back, closes the door, and now we're all three in front of this vault door. They open the door, they step inside. I step inside with them. The two women are now opening a second door. So they both need their key to unlock that. Now, once they get in the vault and you know, kind of like push them in the vault, they get in there. Now we're in the vault. And right as you walk in, right in front of you, it looks like a library index card box.

[Ben Adair]

Like the card cat, the old school.

[Joe Loya]

The old school catalog cat card that when you pull them out, they're really long. They're really, you know, small little files. But.

[Ben Adair]

But I'm guessing this one's not filled with library book notes. It's filled with money.

[Joe Loya]

It's deep and it's long and it's filled with rows of money. So there's twenties and tens and fives and ones. Thing is, I just reach in, I start taking all the money out and I can see what I'm getting. I'm getting all the money. As soon as I'm done. And this goes fast. I look over, threaten them again, don't turn around, you know, count to 100, whatever. I go, step out of that door. Now, I tried to go to the door that I had been led into by the manager into the teller station area. It's locked and I don't have a key. So, like, I gotta hop out the counter to get into the lobby to get out the bank. Fortunately for me, there's a small counter off to the right, the one for handicaps. So you're sitting there at a wheelchair. You can do your work while you're sitting down. And so I have to step on a chair, step on that, jump off into the lobby. And I look around and there's people looking at me. I'm. You know, I'm a guy jumping over a counter. And I remember when I saw the movie Public Enemies with Johnny Depp, there's this one badass scene where he puts his hand on the counter and he hops over it. Like he's hopping over a small fence.

[Ben Adair]

Yeah. Sort of start seeing Hutch Child.

[Joe Loya]

Yeah. And his coat's coming over. He's wearing the fedora. And I looked at that, I was like, man, that looks sexy as fuck. And I was like, I did that fedora, trench coat. I'm that dude, right? And. But I remember looking at that, thinking, that is cool. And I didn't actually put my hand on there and, like, hop over. I stepped over. But it had the same feel. Like, you know, when everyone looks over at me, they know, okay, something bad's going on. This guy's walking out of here. He looks at us with menace and he gauges everything, assesses we're all right, and he walks out of here fast. So they know I just robbed the place. I get out the bank and I just start running. I get to my car, I drive away. And, you know, I'm far enough away to pull over. Because, you know, that's the thing. You know, I got a lot of money. I wonder how much I got, you know, I'm not going to drive 45 minutes home, an hour home to find out how much money I got. I'm going to find out as soon as I feel safe. I pull over, I count it. 32,000 plus. Oh, wow. Yeah. My biggest haul.

[Ben Adair]

How did it feel after getting that much money?

[Joe Loya]

Felt good. I mean, I love you, homeboy. That's the stupidest question. All right, fair.

[Ben Adair]

We'll be right back.

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[Ben Adair]

Part two nice guys finish first.

[Joe Loya]

Okay, so we're on the five going north out of San Diego, North San Diego County. I was driving home. I just robbed four banks in San Diego. I got like $50,000 on me, a little over $50,000 on me and a Fanning pack in the back seat. And I get to a point where I'm driving and I can see far ahead. Like I could see part of the freeway winding there and it was all red lights. And I quickly came to a stop. It was parking lot. It was just we stopped and we stopped and that was it. And you were inching forward at the crazy minute rate. Could not understand why maybe it was around here.

[Ben Adair]

Well, in this part of i5 coming between San Diego and LA, this is Camp Pendleton. So there's nowhere to get off the freeway. There are no exit ramps. There's just, like. There's nothing. There's just freeway. And you're stuck on it.

[Joe Loya]

And you're stuck on it for, like, five miles or something like that. There's. There's nothing you can do. I'm thinking, they're looking for me. They have clearly decided that I robbed banks and they shut down the freeway up ahead. So I'm like, okay, I get how this works. So I don't know exactly what I'm gonna do. I'm kind of panicking. But pretty soon the decision is taken from me because my car starts overheating, and I like, what? So, like, I. Inch, inch, inch. Like, I let people, like, hey, let me go. Let me get through. Let me get. I gotta go off the right. So I get off the right, and I go on this lane right here. And so I parked my car maybe about right here, actually. And then I get out of my car, and I put the money around my waist, and I start walking off this off ramp here. So I walk down this off ramp, and down here at the bottom of the off ramp, his car parked, waving everyone in there is the cop. And now he could see that, you know, clearly I wasn't trying to get over, and I don't have my car. I'm like, here. I said, is there a gas station or something on there? He goes, no, you got to go under the freeway here and go back where you came from. Three mile, four miles back, there's a gas station. I'm like, all right, thanks. And I'm really trying to do the. Like, I'm. I'm a college kid, and I'm fucked up, and you're the authority, and I apologize. And he was like, you know, he actually was nice about it. And I don't care because I got away. Like, I'm like, good. I'm getting away. I got. I got past him. I'm good. I'm going this way. And then I. I just, like, startled by. And I turn around, and there's a highway patrol car, right, pulling up to me. What are you doing? I said, well, that guy, your officer down there, your. Your buddy, whatever, He. He told my car overheat. I'm, like, all bumbling it. I. He told me that. That I could go this way because I don't. You know, my car overheated and just panicking. Like, pretend like I'm just so scared of everyone's authority, and they're like, get in the backseat. We'll take you there. I said, really? He goes, yeah, yeah. I go, thanks. And I hop in the back, and I'm all happy about it. And so we start taking off. You know, they're cops, and they have to figure out, you know, who I am. They're suspicious, and they have to ask, what are you doing? Where'd you come from? I said, well, you know, I met this girl at usc. We were at a party, and she. She lived down here. So I came down for. Here for two or three days. But you know how that happens, man. I had plenty. It was enough. I had to get the hell out of there. And then, like, all of a sudden, this misogyny that I'm, like, leaning into, you know, us, man, you get it. Men, the women just there. They wear us out and whatever. They got that. And then all of a sudden, they just calm down. Yeah, yeah, we get it, like. And all of a sudden, we're bros in that car because we're all like, yeah, women, you know, they're all. They muff us up. Everything was cool at that point. And I said, he, hey, the officer told me that there had been some accident or something back in. And they share with me that there's officers who were shot and there's a crash. An officer crashed, and the guy crashed. Then they say, you know, but the bad guy. We got the bad guy. And I said, well, what about the officer? I started leaning into, like, I'm a citizen and I care about you guys. And what about him? Is he all right? And they say, oh, yeah, he's gonna be fine. I said, does he have a family? I'm really laying on the compassion for the CO so that they like me. And they do. They like me. We pull over. There's a rest stop back there a couple miles back. I said, you know what? Just leave me off at the rest of us. Hey, we'll take it in gas station. I said, you know what? It's my uncle's car. And he didn't tell me that it overheats. So just leave me here. I'm gonna make him come down and get it. So then I say, they pull over and I try to get out. There's no handles in the back seat. So I'm like, oh, wow, there's no handles back. I pretend like I've never been back of a police car before. And I got $50,000. My. My. You know, I'm carrying $50,000 on me. And they say, oh, yeah, we gotta let you out. So they let me out and you know, the cop in the passenger seat gets out, lets me out and then they roll. He gets back in, he rolls the window down and I'm said, hey, thank you officers. I appreciate you guys giving me this ride. And they were friendly to me, like, we could take you, it's no problem. Like, no, no, no, thanks anyway. And. And they drove off and I was like, what the. Late at night I get a call from an ex cellmate I had in San Diego County Jail and he says, were you doing any work down here today? I said, yeah ma'. Am. He says, you're all over the tv. You're on Crime Stoppers. They think it's your Pakistani and they think you live in Tijuana. I was like, all right, good to know, good to know. So those two guys had me in the back seat of the car. They saw my face, I came to the door, I looked at them, you know, hey, thank you, appreciate it. Whatever. The next morning these guys come into work and they. And they like, we're looking for this mail. He robbed four banks today. If you see anything about, if you have any information, you let us know. And I wonder, do those cops say, oh, we gotta go tell them we had them? Or did they say, keep our mouths fucking shut, don't tell anybody.

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[Joe Loya]

Our car and we drove him to get away.

[Ben Adair]

We'll be right back. Part 3 I'm coming back to get you.

[Unnamed Former Bank Teller]

First thing in the morning. Nine o'. Clock. We opened right on the dot, all the time.

[Ben Adair]

This is a former bank teller who didn't want us to use her name. She's one of the victims of Joe's so called victimless crimes.

[Unnamed Former Bank Teller]

And this gentleman walked straight to me, quickly. I was still kind of getting my stuff ready at my teller station and he approached me. He had on a trench coat, sunglasses. He had dark hair, dark mustache, white straight teeth. I remember his mouth because I couldn't see his eyes when he approached. I just had a weird feeling and like, why are you wearing sunglasses in line in a bank? That's kind of a dead giveaway. So I don't believe he gave me a note. I think he told me, open the door and take me to the vault. You know, I'm gonna rob you or something like that. I can't remember but exactly what he said. But I just remembered like, oh my God. And just pressing the button for the alarm and being kind of comatose, but letting him in like I would to anybody else. And I walked back to the vault with him and I told him I don't have keys to anything. And he said, get somebody who does. So we walked out of the vault and to the first supervisor desk that we came across. My supervisor had her head down and she was writing. She doesn't even look up. And I said, I need the keys to the vault. She's like, what? She looks up and she sees me and she sees a horror in my face. And then she sees him standing behind me and we're behind the teller line. So she knew it was not right. So she stood up with me and we walked back to the vault. We start walking back to the vault with him. She tells me I only have one set. And she's, she's like petrified. And by this time we're back by the door that I let him in. And it was taken a long time. All of this took quite a while. So he just turns around and he tells me, I'm coming back to get you. He whispered it to me and he took off. And she fell down to the ground crying. And I was trying to comfort her. I'm like, he's gone. It's okay, it's okay. And then I found out that our assistant bank manager ran out after him to see which way he was running. And he like opened his jacket and pulled out a gun. And so the assistant bank manager ran back in the building and locked the doors, which is what you're supposed to do so they don't run back in. And then we waited for the police and FBI to arrive and to be interviewed. But he got no money, obviously. It took too long.

[Ben Adair]

And then when he said what he said to you, do you remember how you were feeling then?

[Unnamed Former Bank Teller]

In shock, couldn't believe it was happening, but just trying to obey his commands to let him in to the vault.

[Ben Adair]

So what happened afterwards?

[Unnamed Former Bank Teller]

After I talked to the FBI and I was let go for the day, obviously not going back to work. And it was, it took a long time. I don't think I left until like 2 in the afternoon. So I was there for hours. And I remember, okay, you know, I was fine. Yeah, I get the afternoon off kind of, you know, he's gone. And I did tell, I do remember telling the FBI. Why did he tell me he was coming back to get me? And they said, they say that to scare you. So you forget, you forget what they look like. They forget, you forget what, any details, what they told you. The whole incident just tries to scare you. And I go, oh, okay. So when I left at 2:00 clock that afternoon, I walked out of the building by myself. Nobody walked me to my car. And that's when I started freaking out because I didn't feel safe. And I thought he was out there waiting for me. Even though they tried to assure me I was just. I ran to my car and started crying.

[Joe Loya]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Former Bank Teller]

Because I thought he was out there. Yeah, he scared me.

[Ben Adair]

How long did that stay with you?

[Unnamed Former Bank Teller]

Probably about six to eight weeks. I couldn't drive at night or to school. My parents had to pick me up from college if I had a night class. I had nightmares. We lived in a two story house, had some big windows. And I would dream or wake up that he was just. If I looked out the window, he'd be standing there on the sidewalk. Those types of things. Yeah. For about two months, I never forgot his face.

[Ben Adair]

If you could say anything to him today, what would you say?

[Unnamed Former Bank Teller]

Oh, geez, that's a loaded question. I guess I have a lot of compassion for people. I'm very Catholic, so. And forgiveness is huge with me, so if I could say anything to him, I would say, good luck. Life is better when it. When you're living it. Right. Not bad.

[Ben Adair]

If you could have him say anything to you, what would you like him to say to you?

[Unnamed Former Bank Teller]

I don't. I don't. Maybe just said it wasn't personal, had nothing to do with me, and he's not going to come back to get me.

[Ben Adair]

Joe, what do you think about listening to that?

[Joe Loya]

It's hard. It's hard to listen to that, man. It's hard to listen to that man. I feel. I feel terrible. I felt terrible, man. Yeah. I had all that congested rage, and I didn't give a. About myself, anybody. And, you know, it was just saying, I know it wasn't a victimless crime. That's really. And then. And I know, you know, in the abstract that they went and hurt people and they took them with them. And she just verified that. And to hear it in, you know, that concrete way. I struggle sometimes. I'm very confident. I'm very bold. I got a lot of bravado. I got a lot of, you know, confidence. Where I feel the weakest is in my regret and shame for the way I treated women, you know, so I hated guys who were weak and manipulative and trying to prey on women, and I hated them because I felt like you sons of are reminding me of me, and I do not like that you're reminding me that I was like that. I don't. I mean, if I get upset in the world now, it's a that. And I realize that I get mad at men who remind me that I was that because it's so fucking shameful. Do you ever.

[Ben Adair]

Do you ever get away from the shame? Does it ever go away?

[Joe Loya]

No. I mean, I know it's always a low. It's like tinnitus. It's always there. And sometimes it's really low and sometimes it's really high, and that's my struggle. I feel so fucking low. I feel bad for her, you know, obviously I wouldn't do anything to hurt her. Right? Just. She's such a resilient person. Look at that love. She has such compassion. It's beautiful. It's not victimless. You got to hurt people to get that money. I had to scare them. And such a petty little man. Such a petty little man. Ah. I mean, I was crying, listening. Just broke my heart to remember that that was the guy who. Who inflicted that on her. Just. I just. I think what's hard about it too. I know my mother would have loved me through it all, but I shame. I shame the memory of my mother by doing that to these good women. You know, I think that. I think that that is. That's one of the hard things about it too, you know? The man. This is terrible. Sa.

[Ben Adair]

You'Re listening to the Burden Season four, Get the Money and Run. The Burden is produced by Orbit Media. Get the Money and Run is produced by Western Sound and Acast Studios. Next up, stay tuned for episode five. Two Too many.

[Steve Fishman]

Thanks for listening. Remember to hear all episodes all at once and ad free. Subscribe to True Crime Clubhouse on Apple Podcasts. It's worth it. You'll find other gripping true crime series there. Also ad free. If you want to hear Ben talk about this episode, check out the teaser. It's in the Burden feed.

[Joe Loya]

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[Joe Loya]

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[Joe Loya]

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[Joe Loya]

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[Unnamed Former Bank Teller]

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[Joe Loya]

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[Joe Loya]

Goodbye.