Accusing an elderly woman in the Ministry of Education of robbing a bank to secure her release

HARRISONVILLE, Missouri — A 78-year-old woman accused of robbing the Pleasant Hill Bank earlier this year appeared in Cass County Court on Wednesday.

Bonnie Gooch has remained in jail since her April 5 arrest.

According to court records, all parties have agreed to lower her bail and she will be released Thursday morning on special terms. Special conditions include not consuming alcohol, not entering any financial institution, and not coming within 500 feet of any Bank of Joubert location.

Gooch waived her right to a preliminary hearing with the formal arraignment scheduled for July 24, 2023.

According to court documents, just after 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 5, Pleasant Hill police officers responded to a reported robbery at Joubert Bank off Interstate 7.

When on the way, the officers were informed that the suspicious car had left the bank where it was later located and the officers stopped the suspect, Bonnie Gooch, who surrendered to the police.

Court documents say Gooch was, “It was noted that she was very drunk and had a strong smell of hard liquor wafting from her person.”

The officer could see a large amount of cash in small bills in plain sight on the floorboard, a handwritten note as well as two plastic gloves and a black N95 mask on the passenger seat.

A bank teller told police that Gooch came to the bank and sent her a note from the counter, stating that the incident that occurred was a robbery and he was asking for $13,000, court documents said.

After obtaining a search warrant for the suspicious vehicle, the note was obtained which reads: “is a robbery i need 13000 small coins no! dye pack! 5 @ $10 bills no uppotton thanks sorry i didn’t mean to scare you.” (sic).

After an interview with FBI agents, Gooch said she did not remember anything that happened, according to court documents.

Court documents say the FBI will not charge Gooch at the federal level and will turn the case over to local law enforcement.

Gooch was also arrested on February 5, 2020 for the bank robbery at Lee’s Summit.

In the 2020 robbery incident, Gooch was charged with theft and convicted, but her sentence was suspended and she was ordered to supervise probation, which ended in November 2021.

Court documents show that when the 75-year-old Gooch robbed the West Bank in Lee’s Summit, her son called authorities and said his mother was, “from her rocking chair and angrily left the house, saying she was going to rob a bank.”

According to the 2020 criminal complaintwas convicted of bank robbery in California in 1977.