Bonnie Gooch, a 78-year-old Missouri resident with two previous bank robbery convictions, is facing new charges after Kansas City authorities say she handed a bank teller a note that read “I didn’t mean to scare you” during a recent robbery in the state.
With bail set at $25,000, Gooch was taken into custody Tuesday after being charged with one count of theft or attempted theft from a financial institution in Pleasant Hill, the Kansas City Star reported.
Gooch was previously convicted of a bank robbery that occurred in California in 1977 and one in suburban Kansas City in 2020. Court documents filed in Cass County in the latest case said the robbery note demanded “13,000 small bills,” and another note, as stated: “Thank you and sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you “. Surveillance video also captured the defendant banging on the counter, asking the clerk to hurry, district prosecutors claimed.
According to prosecutors, when Gooch was pulled over near the bank, she smelled strongly of alcohol and had dollar bills scattered in her car. “It’s just sad,” said Pleasant Hill Police Chief Tommy Wright, adding that the suspect had no known illnesses.