'I didn't mean to scare you,' repeat elderly bank heist suspect writes on note
Bonnie Gooch, 78, jailed on $25,000 bond
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New details are being revealed about a bank heist allegedly committed by an elderly repeat offender.
"I didn’t mean to scare you," a note handed to a teller during a recent Missouri holdup read.
That note allegedly came from Bonnie Gooch, 78, who has two past bank robbery convictions.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gooch is jailed on $25,000 bond after she was charged with one count of stealing or attempting to steal from a financial institution on April 5 in Pleasant Hill, The Kansas City Star reports. No attorney is listed for her in online court records.
MISSOURI ELDERLY WOMAN ACCUSED OF ROBBING BANK FOR THIRD TIME
Bonnie Gooch, 78, of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, faces bank robbery charges after allegedly trying to take money from a financial institution, for a third time since 1977. (Pleasant Hill Police Department)
The incident happened around 3:20 p.m. at the Goppert Financial Bank on North Highway 7.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While en route, officers were given a description of the suspect as well as her vehicle, and once located, they conducted a traffic stop and apprehended Gooch.
Police said Gooch was taken into custody without incident.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An exterior look of Goppert Financial Bank on North Hwy 7 in Pleasant Hill, Missouri. (Google Earth)
"Obviously it was a tense situation," Pleasant Hill Police Chief Thomas Wright told FOX 4 Kansas City. "But when the hands of an elderly woman come out of the car and that is who is driving the suspect vehicle, it’s a little shocking."
She reportedly smelled strongly of alcohol when officers stopped her less than two miles away from the bank, with cash scattered on the car's floorboard, prosecutors added.
Gooch also was convicted of robbing a California bank in 1977 and one in the Kansas City suburb of Lee’s Summit in 2020. Her probation in the second heist ended in November 2021.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}When officers were en route to this Goppert Financial Bank in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, they were given bank heist suspect and vehicle details. (Google Earth)
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Court documents filed in Cass County in the latest case said the robbery note demanded "13,000 small bills," adding "thank you sorry I didn’t mean to scare you." Surveillance video also captured her banging on the counter, asking the teller to hurry, Cass County prosecutors said.
"It’s just sad," Wright said, adding that the suspect had no diagnosed ailments.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Greg Wehner and the Associated Press contributed to this report.