Who is Scott Scurlock? and why did Netflix make a Documentary on Him?
Netflix’s new crime documentary titled How to Rob a Bank has been released. It is based on the true story of Scott Scurlock, who committed 19 bank robberies in the Seattle area in the 1990s. He and some of his friends stole over $2.3 million.
The documentary includes interviews with people who knew him and statements from individuals who prove he was a good person who loved people and lived life to the fullest. The film also shows the internal conflict that haunted the adrenaline junkie who lived in a three-story tree house with a spectacular view of Mount Rainier. Clips from the film show the eccentric Scurlock testing out a homemade zip line and zipping around.
Who was Scott Scurlock?
Scott Scurlock was born on March 5, 1955, to a minister and his wife, a teacher of children with learning disabilities. Scurlock was a man who went his way, never liked to be controlled and loved doing daring things. Scurlock learned to pick locks during his childhood days. At age 15, he rented a car from daycare with a friend and happily drove to the beach.
He was once kicked out by a professor in college when he was caught making crystal methamphetamine (also known as crystal meth) in a campus lab. Also read – Why Theresa Randle Not Returning to Bad Boys: Do or Die
Scott Scurlock’s First Bank Robbery
Scurlock continued making meth until he became concerned for his safety and quit the drug game. Desperate to make more money, he experimented with robbing banks after watching Point Break, the 1991 thriller in which undercover FBI agent Johnny Utah, played by Keanu Reeves, befriends a group of thieves led by Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) to rob a bank.
On June 25, 1992, an inexperienced Scurlock and his friend, Mark Biggins, walked into a Seattle bank for their first undercover robbery. Later, as he developed his robbery and deceiving skills, Meyers, an artist, replaced the mask with a prosthetic nose, chin and cheeks. He kept watch over local banks and maintained contact with police. On November 19, 1992, they escaped with $252,000 from the bank vault.
How was Scurlock caught?
According to an interviewer for the documentary, his friend Alban Snoopy said the robberies had made him restless. He began drinking heavily to ease his insecurities, while his craving to rob banks grew into an addiction. “He wasn’t that random, lucky guy anymore,” Snoopy recalls.
However, his end came on November 27, 1996, the night before Thanksgiving, when Scott Scurlock and his longtime partner Steve Biggins robbed the Seafirst Bank in Lake City. After robbing $1.08 million, they were found with the help of a tracking device, which finally led police to them.
According to the documentary, from 1992 to 1996 Scurlock and his accomplices committed 19 confirmed robberies, netting more than $2.3 million.
How did Scott Scurlock die?
A shootout broke out between law enforcement and the robbers. One of Scurlock’s accomplices was shot in the arm and a bullet hit Biggins in the stomach. Scurlock got out of the van and left his friends, who were arrested by police and taken to the hospital. There, FBI agent Shawn Johnson took Scurlock’s name.
Scurlock took refuge in a stranger’s backyard campsite on Thanksgiving. When police surrounded him, he shot himself.