78-year-old bank robber hands note to teller apologizing for robbery

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By James Kay

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A 78-year-old Missouri woman was arrested on robbery charges, which is her third conviction.

Bonnie Gooch has twice previously been convicted of robbery and has since tried for a third time after she walked into Goppert Financial Bank.

As reported by the Kansas City Star, the 78-year-old donned a black N95 mask, black sunglasses and plastic gloves last Wednesday (April 5), and entered the bank before slipping the teller a note that allegedly read: "I need 13,000 small bills."

As per BBC News, surveillance footage showed Gooch banging on the counter, clearly impatient because the workers were taking too long to get her the cash.

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Bonnie Gooch. Credit: Pleasant Hill Missouri Police Department

Rather bizarrely, just before making her great escape, the 78-year-old handed the teller a very polite note which read: "Thank you, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

She was then seen leaving the bank before getting into her Buick Enclave, which had its disability registration displayed.

The incident took place shortly before 3:20 PM local time when Pleasant Hill Missouri Police Department received a call.

Officers attended the scene and discovered Gooch sitting in her car, which reportedly had the scent of alcohol and the money across the floor.

Pleasant Hill Police Chief Tommy Wright told the Kansas City Star said: "When officers first approached her, they were kind of confused ... It's a little old lady who steps out. We weren't sure initially that we had the right person."

The 78-year-old was subsequently charged with one count of stealing or attempting to steal from a financial institution.

Her first brush with the law came in 1977 when she committed a robbery in California, and the second came in 2020 when she handed a bank teller a birthday card that read "This is a robbery".

Gooch is not known to have any ailments, though there are currently investigations underway to see whether her age is a factor in her behavior.

This isn't the only story that raises eyebrows due to the age of those involved, as a 12-year-old girl picked up her 14-year-old friend in her dad's car before the pair drove for over 400 miles.

As reported by NBC News, an alert for a missing child was raised on Thursday morning (April 6), after the 12-year-old, along with her 14-year-old friend, were last spotted in their hometown of Lake Butler, Florida.

The pair were later named as Jade Gregory and Khloe Larson and investigations are currently underway as it came to light that the pair may have been traveling to see somebody they had been talking to online.

After seeing themselves on TV as reported missing, the girls eventually turned themselves in, bringing a five-hour search to an end.

Featured image credit: format1 / Alamy