Bouquet Bandit Says Flowers Show He Is "Polite"

Poor Edward Pemberton. After being busted for robbing a bank armed with a bouquet of flowers, the former Chelsea's Flower District employee now says he never wants to see another flower again. He told the Daily News, "They're the thing that did me in. ...They're bad memories now." But he also believes the plants that caused his downfall should prove that he's not really a bad guy. "The flowers show I'm polite...The flowers were 'Thank yous' to people who were giving me something that didn't belong to them, and didn't belong to me either."

Police caught Pemberton after taking fingerprints from his signature gift, finding him hiding in his brother's closet in Bed-Stuy. Though other inmates have been asking for his autograph, the romantic father of two says he regrets choosing a life of crime that will keep him apart from his family. He said, "I love Sue [his girlfriend] more than anything in the world. I could do 100 years in here, but being away from her is what kills me. Tell my family I love them. Tell my victims I'm sorry."