Thirty-three year old Gustavo DeJesus Torres needs a new job. Actually, he just needs to get a job. Maybe in a few years, he will. He must first pay his dues to society.
“A news story from 2021 reports that a then-29-year-old Gustavo Torres robbed a bank in the Newark suburb of Belleville, New Jersey… the robber made off with $6,000…According to The New York Times, Torres was arrested in February 2026 for robbing a TD Bank in Tribeca, where he stole $600…
“On Friday, March 13, he struck in Queens. On the day, he entered a Chase bank and walked up to the teller. Torres allegedly handed the teller a note, which stated that people would get hurt if he didn’t get some money. Curiously, the note didn’t say he was armed or had any real way to hurt anybody. Afterward, Torres left the bank. A half hour later, he repeated the stunt in another Queens bank.
“His daily total was $320 received from one of the banks. The other one he left empty-handed.
“The next day, March 14, Torres reportedly went to Brooklyn, where he again visited two Chase branches. It was the same routine—one of the banks gave him money, the other didn’t.
“That day, he earned $265.
“After the Brooklyn jobs, Torres took a break for a couple of days. Then on Tuesday, March 17, he reportedly moved to the area of the Bronx and Harlem. From the bank in the Bronx, he got zilch. But from Harlem, he brought home a crisp 20-dollar bill.
“Altogether, his robberies made him $605. That’s probably not enough to cover NYC rent, but it’s something.”1
For quite a while, he seemed uncatchable. But, on April 1, the U.S. Marshalls released a statement. “After weeks of evading law enforcement, a suspect wanted for a string of bank robberies throughout NYC has been apprehended by members of the U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.
“Gustavo DeJesus-Torres, 33, was arrested today in Newark. DeJesus-Torres is believed to be responsible for a series of robberies after hitting six Chase banks across Queens, Brooklyn, Harlem, and the Bronx during the month of March.
“DeJesus-Torres was taken into custody this morning by a team of U.S. Marshals following a coordinated investigation with the U.S. Marshals Service, Newark Police Department Fugitive Apprehension Team, and NYPD Detectives. He is facing charges for violating the terms of his federal supervision and additional charges related to the bank robbery.
“DeJesus-Torres is alleged to have targeted several financial institutions, using similar methods in each incident. Specifically, he’d inform tellers using written notes that they may get hurt if they didn’t comply with his demands. U.S. Marshals service investigators were able to locate Torres after hours of surveillance and following up on a myriad of investigative leads and tips from the public.
“This arrest is the result of meticulous investigative work,” said Nicholas Ricigliano, Acting U.S. Marshal for the District of New Jersey. “We are committed to ensuring the safety of our communities and holding those responsible for their crimes accountable.”2
As I’m reading the story and the U.S. Marshal’s report, I couldn’t help but think of Ephesians 4:28. “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”
Stealing violates the eighth command of Exodus 20:15 that clearly says, “Thou shalt not steal.” Now, that doesn’t seem complicated, does it? Yet there are plenty of individuals like Gustavo in this world, some stealing far more and others stealing far less. Regardless of the amount, it’s still theft.
The law has many different names for theft, ranging from petty larceny, burglary, robbery, shoplifting, cyber theft, embezzlement, and grand larceny, just to name a few. Other forms of theft include kickbacks, fraudulent disbursement, time theft, employee theft, sweethearting, and discount abuse.
It’s easy to point fingers at those like Gustavo who have attempted or succeeded in stealing large sums of money. But have we ever helped ourselves to things that were not ours from the places we worked? Did we ever take a dozen or more ketchup packets from the restaurant that we were never going to use for our meal? Was there something in your hotel room that mysteriously made its way into your suitcase and came back home with you?
Unless someone in authority said that it was ours for the taking, it was stealing. There’s no getting around it.
As Christians, we cannot have too much integrity. Rather than thinking we are so much better than the common thieves in our world, maybe we had better take inventory of how much we have that really doesn’t belong to us and make things right.
Remember and reflect on the lesson taught by Zacchaeus in Luke 19:8-9. “And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. (9) And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”
1https://www.oddee.com/man-tries-to-rob-six-chase-bank-branches-in-a-week-earns-605-78134/
2https://www.usmarshals.gov/news/press-release/us-marshals-new-york-new-jersey-regional-fugitive-task-force-arrest-suspect
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