Story Archive

That Stabbing Pain

Larry Lotter thought he was having a heart attack in a Williamson, Ill., bar. “I felt fine,” Lotter remembered. “And then all at once, I took a drink of my beer, and I felt a real sharp pain, like someone sticking an ice pick in my chest.” Friends called 911 and several concerned people gathered around Lotter. One of them, security cameras show, was Bryan Kuegler, who watched for an opening and then allegedly stole Lotter’s wallet. “As the EMTs were getting ready to come in, is when he reached down and grabbed my wallet and stuck it in his pants,” Lotter said. As Lotter was being hauled out, Kuegler allegedly went into the bathroom, took $100 in cash, and threw away the wallet. “He tried to buy the girl that Larry was with that day a drink with the money he took,” said bar owner Mike Lovsey. Doctors say Lotter didn’t have a heart attack, and Lotter suspects Kuegler may have drugged him. Kuegler is being held on charges of felony theft. (MS/KTVI St. Louis) ...Usually, only insurance companies rip you off like that.