Crime & Safety

'Nature Dave' Case Heads to County Court

Man accused of bringing 'You're being robbed sign' into Easton banks.

The case against Dave Gorczynski, accused last year of bringing a sign reading "You're being robbed" into an Easton bank, is headed to county court.

Gorczynski, known to friends as "Nature Dave," waived a preliminary hearing Friday afternoon before Senior District Judge Elizabeth Romig-Gainer in downtown Easton.

Defense attorney Phil Lauer said Friday he's hoping to find a "reasonable resolution" to the case.

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Asked whether that meant a plea bargain or pushing to have the case dismissed, he said the answer would likely lie "somewhere in between."

Gorczynski, 22, of Easton was arrested last August while protesting both inside and outside the Wells Fargo and Bank of America branches in downtown Easton. According to police, he wore a bandanna—at times allowing it to cover his face, District Attorney John Morganelli said -- and carried two signs.

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One read "You're being robbed;" the other said "Give a man a gun, he'll rob a bank. Give a man a bank, he'll rob a country."

Gorczynski, part of the Occupy Easton group, has said his message wasn't aimed at the bank but rather to its customers: This bank is robbing you.

He was arrested outside the Bank of America—after he'd left after being asked to do so by the manager—and charged with two counts each of attempted robbery, terroristic threats and disorderly conduct.

Morganelli later dropped the attempted robbery charges and has said his office doesn't plan to seek jail time for Gorczynski if he's convicted or pleads guilty.

The robbery charges were dropped, Morganelli said last year, because there was no evidence Gorcynski intended to rob a bank. But he also added that people in the bank had reason to be frightened by a man wearing a bandanna holding a sign that read "You're being robbed."

Lauer has said his client simply chose "an artistic, unusual, maybe annoying way" of protesting.

Gorczynski's preliminary hearing had been continued numerous times. Several people packed the courtroom Friday: bank employees, friends and family of Gorczynski, and members of the Lehigh Valley branch of the Industrial Workers of the World.


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