A story that recently caught my eye, is that of 18 yr. old Seattle native Colton Harris-Moore. Moore escaped from a minimum security juvenile facility in April of 2009. Since then Colton has gained notoriety as a thief who breaks into homes (over 50) to eat ice cream & take bubble baths and then flee into the woods. From there the crimes have escalated to cash, stolen boats and airplanes. Nicknamed the "Barefoot Bandit" Moore's escapes are becoming something of a legend. He has flown away 3 planes & safely crash landed all 3 of them with no formal training. Already T-shirts are being sold with his picture & the words "FLY COLTON FLY", and a song "THE BALLAD OF BAREFOOT HARRIS" has been penned. He also has a FACEBOOK fan club with over 8,000 members and a documentary film crew have been to his hometown of Comano Island,Wa. He has been featured in Time Magazine & ABC NEWS. To this day he is out there on the run, continuing to allude authorities, hiding out in dense forest's. Colton has been in & out of trouble with police over petty crimes since he was 8. While the story sounds romantic, a modern day Robin Hood or Jesse James as some call him, you just know the story's not going to end well. I have feeling either he ends up dead, or gets put away for a long time. That's the cold hard reality of it all. A local law authority commented "He is an adult felon, I will not have him made into some kind of folk hero" This story reminds me of Frank Abagnale Jr's story which was made into the film, "Catch Me If You Can" ...(they could & they did). Fortunately, Frank went to work for the good guys (the FBI) & is one of the leading authorities on check fraud & identity theft in the world today. I had the pleasure of making Mr. Abagnale's acquaintance at the St. Louis Speaker Series a few years ago and I found him to be highly intelligent, personable and had completely turned his life around. I can only hope Colton gets that same chance to one day use his misguided adventures for something positive. I'll keep you posted of any new developments. For now, Fly Colton Fly !
Friday, January 15, 2010
Colton Harris Moore....catch me if you can !
A story that recently caught my eye, is that of 18 yr. old Seattle native Colton Harris-Moore. Moore escaped from a minimum security juvenile facility in April of 2009. Since then Colton has gained notoriety as a thief who breaks into homes (over 50) to eat ice cream & take bubble baths and then flee into the woods. From there the crimes have escalated to cash, stolen boats and airplanes. Nicknamed the "Barefoot Bandit" Moore's escapes are becoming something of a legend. He has flown away 3 planes & safely crash landed all 3 of them with no formal training. Already T-shirts are being sold with his picture & the words "FLY COLTON FLY", and a song "THE BALLAD OF BAREFOOT HARRIS" has been penned. He also has a FACEBOOK fan club with over 8,000 members and a documentary film crew have been to his hometown of Comano Island,Wa. He has been featured in Time Magazine & ABC NEWS. To this day he is out there on the run, continuing to allude authorities, hiding out in dense forest's. Colton has been in & out of trouble with police over petty crimes since he was 8. While the story sounds romantic, a modern day Robin Hood or Jesse James as some call him, you just know the story's not going to end well. I have feeling either he ends up dead, or gets put away for a long time. That's the cold hard reality of it all. A local law authority commented "He is an adult felon, I will not have him made into some kind of folk hero" This story reminds me of Frank Abagnale Jr's story which was made into the film, "Catch Me If You Can" ...(they could & they did). Fortunately, Frank went to work for the good guys (the FBI) & is one of the leading authorities on check fraud & identity theft in the world today. I had the pleasure of making Mr. Abagnale's acquaintance at the St. Louis Speaker Series a few years ago and I found him to be highly intelligent, personable and had completely turned his life around. I can only hope Colton gets that same chance to one day use his misguided adventures for something positive. I'll keep you posted of any new developments. For now, Fly Colton Fly !
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