The Fate of the Green Scarf Bandit

The last two weeks we’ve been following the crime spree of the Green Scarf Bandit, so-named because of the green scarf he wore over his face. He had been following a pattern of kidnapping grocery store managers from their homes at night and forcing them to open the safes of their stores. He had hit two foothills stores in a week’s time, the last one in La Cañada. In that one, the manager’s 8-year-old son had feigned sleep when his dad was kidnapped from his home. When they left for the store, he called the police. After a dramatic shootout on Foothill Boulevard, the wounded robber was apprehended and taken to the hospital after a police bullet passed through his neck.

The Green Scarf Bandit was ID’d as James Rudolph from Placerville in northern California. The police located the bandit’s car near the kidnapping site and found in the trunk thousands of dollars in stolen money and jewelry along with a .45 and a stolen police badge. Chillingly, they also found an address book listing the home addresses of the managers of several supermarkets in the LA area. The Tujunga Shopping Bag was next on the list.

In the flurry of media coverage after the event, the manager’s 8-year-old son who had sounded the alarm was the big hero. Little Jimmy Jones’ photo was everywhere in newspapers, along with glowing reports of his bravery. He was feted by the sheriff’s station, and presented with a miniature deputy sheriff badge by LA County Sheriff Biscailuz.

When the police descended on Rudolph’s home in Placerville, his poor wife was clueless as to her husband’s true profession. Inge Rudolph was a naïve German girl who Rudolph had married when he was in the Army in occupied Germany, and they now had two small children. Rudolph had told her that he was a traveling salesman, explaining the time away from home. Further he had told her that he was a really, really good poker player, thus the steady flow of cash. And indeed the Placerville house was packed with expensive fur coats, cameras and jewelry, along with lots of cash. Inge proclaimed her innocence and the police believed her.

The trial was delayed by two factors. Rudolph had been severely wounded and needed time to recuperate. Also the amount of loot found in his car and home was immense, and it took a long time for detectives to sort through what items went with what crime. Eventually Rudolph stood before a judge charged with five counts of robbery, four of attempted robbery, nine counts of kidnapping and two of false imprisonment. California law at that time held that kidnapping and committing bodily harm, like Rudolph had done when he whacked the store manager over the head during a struggle, was a capital offense. Rudolph was facing the death penalty.

He pled guilty on all counts, thus evading the death penalty. He was given a fairly light sentence, five years to life, probably because he was not vicious in his crimes. His sentence was extended when only seven months into his imprisonment at Folsom, Rudolph and his cellmate attempted to escape. They had somehow cut holes in the cell doors, and were waiting for the right moment to flee when discovered by guards.

The last word from this saga comes from Rudolph’s granddaughter. She wrote recently that Rudolph divorced Inge after he was sentenced because he wanted her to move on with her life. He wanted her to be happy and not have to wait for him. Decades later, when he was released, he went to live with one of his now grown daughters and her family. The granddaughter relayed that for her and her brother, Rudolph was a wonderful grandfather who doted on them, regularly taking them out for ice cream and movies. The granddaughter continued to have a relationship with her grandfather until he died when she was pregnant with her first child. Despite Rudolph’s crime spree, she had fond memories of him.

After all he wasn’t a monster, just a man addicted to robbery.

  mike lawler