From a lottery victor to a bank robber: Jim Hayes' desired memoir
The downfall of Jim Hayes, a former lottery millionaire from California, led him to become a notorious bank robber infamously known as the "PT Cruiser Bandit." In 2017, the 55-year-old inmate plans to release an autobiography titled "Lottery to Robbery." The story encaptures a heart-wrenching saga of a swift descent.
A well-worn adage says, "Those who fly high fall low." Few phrases more accurately represent the last two decades of Jim Allen Hayes' life. In 1998, Hayes was a night watchman from Carpinteria; that same year, he won an astonishing $19 million (approximately €16.5 million) in the lottery. After deducting taxes, he received about $14 million, doled out in 20 annual installments of $684,000 each. Seems more than sufficient, doesn't it? In an interview with the L.A. Times, Hayes declared, "I'm not going to blow the money."
And he didn't. Instead, this former heroin addict and now homeless man lived a life of luxury. He sported Rolexes, walked on Persian carpets through his own beach houses, attended debaucherous gambling parties with Hollywood's elite in Las Vegas. It wasn't long before his first marriage dissolved. No longer content with stars from sport, film, and music as his pals, Hayes became deeply involved in sports cars. In the hunt for more, he bought an impressive collection of Ferraris, Porsches, and Corvettes — a total of 17 luxury cars, plus a few Harleys. His fascination with Lamborghinis was no less. Often found testing his mettle on racetracks, Hayes even arranged for Formula One World Champion Mario Andretti, who dominated the sport in 1978, to join him on the track. He was living the fast life - with no refueling.
The Slide
How did this lottery bigshot end up in prison? He was convicted of three years in prison plus three years probation and a $39,424 (approximately €34,265) fine for robbing banks in four states. Incredibly lenient charges against the sensational PT Cruiser Bandit came from the highest federal court in Los Angeles last March.
However, this lenient case against Hayes makes perfect sense, as the roots of hisdownfallaren't solely based on his extravagant lifestyle. Shadows of his impending demise could be seen as early as the end of the 1990s. Despite his divorce, Hayes' ex-wife constantly claimed 50% of the annual jackpot, eroding his funds. To add to his woes, Hayes suffered multiple back injuries that led to a dependance on painkillers. In 2007, he went bankrupt. The lottery checks no longer reached him, as the creditors had taken possession of them to offset his debt.
Forced to find other means of survival, Hayes, accompanied by his second wife, moved from their loft into an apartment building. To live rent-free, he took over the property management. Struggling financially, Hayes received 38 job rejections and applied for a management position at a hotel. Rejected owing to lack of experience, he fell further and harder into drug addiction. In the wake of a fire, destroying the building he was residing in, he moved into a friend's garage and began using heroin.
"You Just Need the Guts"
During this time, Hayes entertained the thought of bank robbery for the first time. "You just need the guts," he told himself. So, in April 2017, Hayes started targeting banks. With only his charm and no weapons, he stole over $3,000 in Carpinteria's central bank in just a few minutes — a feat that became the PT Cruiser Bandit's trademark. ThePT Cruiser Bandit'spopularity grew with each robbery, as did his addiction to heroin.
Over the course of five months, he stole around $55,000 before being caught. Ironically, the former multimillionaire wasn't captured by the police through flashy action scenes like in the movies but by the force's hands of a "penniless addict who lived in a friend's garage and battled one of the worst addictions of all time."
Jim Hayes, who'd been locked up for six months by the time the verdict came, pondered over the "lottery jinx," the opposite face of wealth, and the elements of a muddled existence. He was set to share his insights when he got out in 2020, titling the book "Lottery to Robbery."
Despite his imprisonment, he doesn't seem too discontented. In fact, Hayes appears to have gleaned something valuable from his experience. He aims to make a fresh start post-release, expressing to reporters that he's now "awake, refined, and entirely free of drugs." In a correspondence with The Daily Beast, he said:
"I was penniless, unwell, and furious at the universe, residing in a shed while my precious cat stared at me with ambition. Jail wasn't a patch on what I'd imagined, but it's still a blessing. It rescued me."
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Source: www.onlinecasinosdeutschland.com
