Did low wages, threat of Medicare cuts, prompt 83-year-old Walmart greeter to rob his own store?

Times are hard, and if you are a senior citizen, times are probably even harder.

83-year-old George Plane Jr. of Mooresville, North Carolina, has been accused of robbing the Statesville, North Carolina Walmart, where he worked as a greeter.

On Sunday, March 6, 2011, Plane quietly finished his shift at Walmart - but instead of going home - he reportedly pulled a Batman in the parking lot, and came back to the store wearing a brilliant disguise... an orange bandanna.

Then, the elderly man allegedly put a gun to a fellow employee's head, and gave himself a raise by taking cash from his coworker's register.

Proving that crime may pay, but the taxes are a beast; Plane was arrested later that evening.

So far, a motive for the robbery has not been disclosed. But I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Walmart's low wages and the current threat of Medicare cuts, pushed this old guy into a life of crime.

Or, maybe Plane is just a no-good, low-down thief.