When I first moved to FL. in 1987 I always cashed my checks on Friday afternoons after work. One time a man came up to my window and asked to borrow $13 for a new fan belt. I told him to just get in and we can go get it. He said he could not because his wife and kids were waiting for him in his truck. Right across the street was an AZ. I told him I would go to the AZ and buy the belt myself. He started getting mad and walked away. I just sat in my truck to see what his next move was. He got some money from another stranger, went into the little store next to the bank, and came out with a brown paper bag. Next thing you know, it was bottoms up.
That particular issue was so bad that FL started letting snowbird Canadians temp register their cars because of that . It was a massive crime wave and they loved to pick on tourists and Canadians knowing they weren't armed. I heard about this constantly while I was working at the border. IIRC the rental car companies changed the plating and window stickers so their cars weren't so obvious to roaming bandits.I was in Miami not too far from the airport and I saw a guy on the side of the road with his hood up, hazard lights on and waving his arms trying to get me to pull over
It was around 11 PM and I was NOT going to stop to see what he needed. This was around 25 years ago when there was a rash of German tourists being targeted by ‘bump and rob’ thugs.
Back then rental cars could be easily identified by their license plate, the state had to change it to reduce tourists being followed from the airport on their way to Miami Beach and bumped from behind and very easy targets.
Fast forward last year I saw sonething on this on one of those true crime shows. This crazy rash of robberies that ended in the murder of that German tourist was caused by just 3 kids. The ring leader was some trailer park girl her boyfriend and his buddy. They had all of Southern Fla on edge for a few years robbing people blind until one of them got nervous and pulled that trigger. Weird how much trouble one idiot with an idea can cause isn't it.