A 78-year-old woman is accused of robbing a Missouri bank. But it wasn’t her first time
Pleasant Hill police received an unusual call Wednesday afternoon: The Goppert Financial Bank at 2100 N. Highway 7 had been robbed by an elderly woman.
Witnesses said the suspect — dressed all in gray, with plastic gloves, a black N95 mask and black sunglasses — approached the counter and passed the teller a note, which, according to documents filed in Cass County Circuit Court, read in part: “... is a robbery I need 13,000 small bills … thank you sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Surveillance video captured her banging on the counter, asking the teller to hurry and give her the money, Cass County prosecutors claim. The woman allegedly advised the teller not to count the money and “just give it to her.”
After she was given the money, the suspect, later identified by police as 78-year-old Bonnie Gooch, was seen leaving in a Buick Enclave with its handicap registration number on display. Prosecutors say the vehicle pulled out of the bank and onto southbound Highway 7.
Officers were then able to locate Gooch and stopped her vehicle in the Pleasant Hill Animal Clinic parking lot. The suspect smelled strongly of alcohol, prosecutors claim, and police found a large amount of cash in small bills on the floorboard.
Police arrested Gooch. Thursday, she was charged with one count of stealing or attempting to steal from a financial institution.
She remains in Cass County Jail, with her bail set at $25,000.
But the recent arrest and charge is not Gooch’s first. According to court records, the woman has at least two other bank robbery convictions.
Her first conviction came out of California in 1977, and more recently, the robbery of a Lee’s Summit bank in 2020.
Atypical suspect?
On the evening of Jan. 23, 2020, police responded to a Lee’s Summit residence after Gooch’s son called and told them his mother was “off her rocker,” according to documents filed in Johnson County Circuit Court.
Her son claimed Gooch had left in a maroon SUV, neon Nike hat, black wig and BB gun . She was angry, he said, saying she was going to rob a bank.
About 30 minutes later, officers responded to a robbery at Bank of the West near Northeast Route 291 and Chipman Road.
There, a teller told police she was working the drive thru window when a short, older woman wearing a lime green hat and wig entered the bank. The woman handed her what looked like a blank birthday card with a note on top that read “this is a robbery,” according to court documents.
The note requested $3,000 in $50 and $20 bills.
An officer located Gooch’s vehicle not long after and arrested her without incident.
Gooch was sentenced to probation, which ended in November 2021.
Details of Gooch’s decades-old conviction in California were not publicly available Friday afternoon.
Pleasant Hill Police Chief Tommy Wright told The Star Friday that the suspect had no “diagnosed” ailments, but because of her age, the department is working to determine whether any underlying health factors contributed to the incident.
“We’re working with agencies to figure out what the next steps are,” Wright said. “It’s just sad.”
Wright called the case “unusual,” saying that in his 30 years of police work, he’s never encountered a bank robbery suspect her age. Even officers were surprised when they tracked down Gooch’s vehicle Wednesday, he said.
“When officers first approached her, they were kind of confused ... It’s a little old lady who steps out,” he said. “We weren’t sure initially that we had the right person.”
Wright said their suspicions were confirmed when the wads of cash were found in her vehicle. He added that the woman appeared intoxicated and was “very stern” with officers. Tellers were fearful of her, he said, though no gun was presented.
He wasn’t aware of her being a suspect in any additional bank robberies.
Court documents indicate that Gooch had been sued by several financial institutions in the past few years.
Gooch’s arraignment is scheduled for May 25.
