Missouri’s ‘Gangster Grandma’ is making a name for herself, and recently tried, for the third time, to rob a bank.
Grandma Robs a Bank
A 78-year-old Missouri woman was arrested for allegedly trying to steal money from a bank for the third time in her life, the second time in the last three years, according to Fox News.
Bonnie Gooch has a history of committing bank robberies and is accused again of trying to steal from a Pleasant Hill, Missouri, bank on April 5, 2023.
The incident happened at the Goppert Financial Bank located in Pleasant Hill, where a woman wearing grey clothes, plastic gloves, a black N95 mask, and sunglasses approached a teller with a slip of paper, the Kansas City Star reported.
Robber Hands Worker a Note
Court documents said the note informed the worker it was a robbery and that the suspect needed “13,000 small bills,” adding, “Thank you sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Staff gave police a description of her vehicle, and a few hundred yards from the bank Bonnie was pulled over.
“Obviously it was a tense situation but when the hands of an elderly woman came out of the car and that is who’s driving the suspect vehicle it’s a little shocking,” Pleasant Hill Police Department Chief Thomas Wright told Fox 4 News Kansas City.
“Well she’s very wily,” Wright said of the suspect. He also told the Star the woman had no “diagnosed” illnesses, but officials are trying to determine if underlying health issues played a role in the incident.
This Wasn’t Her First Time Robbing a Bank
Court records indicate the suspect has at least two previous bank robbery convictions, one of which was in California in the late 1970s. The more recent incident reportedly happened in 2020 at a Lee’s Summit bank, after which she was sentenced to probation that ended one year later, per the Star article.
Prosecutors reportedly charged Gooch with stealing or attempted stealing from a bank, with a bond set at $25,000.
An 89-year-old witness to the arrest gave a comment to the local news outlet, saying, “Maybe she was desperate. You know sometimes we don’t save enough money.”
Police Chief Wright says the department is planning to look at the overall picture of Gooch’s life to see if she needs any social services.
Gooch is scheduled for arraignment in May.
Get the news you need at It’s On News.
The best defense she can have is to proclaim she’s a democrat.