A woman from Pennsylvania was taken into custody Monday afternoon in the Fulton area, about an hour after she allegedly robbed the First State Community Bank branch in Warrenton.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol arrested the 43-year-old suspect, identified as Jasmine M. McDaniel, Myerstown, Pa., around 1:25 p.m. Authorities also allege she was responsible for a June 20 bank robbery in Jonestown, Pa.
First State Community Bank, located at 1022 North Highway 47 in Warrenton, was robbed around 12:30 p.m. Monday. Warrenton Police Chief Greg Houdyshell said a black woman slipped a written note to a bank teller demanding cash in $100 and $20 bills. The suspect then took an undisclosed amount of money and drove away in a gold-colored minivan.
Houdyshell said the woman nearly caused a wreck as she drove onto southbound Highway 47. He said witnesses reported that the minivan turned onto the outer road and began traveling west.
Houdyshell said McDaniel acted alone and no one was injured in the robbery. A “substantial” amount of money was recovered when McDaniel was arrested at a Kingdom City motel, Houdyshell reported.
McDaniel is being held in the Callaway County Jail on an outstanding felony warrant related to the alleged bank robbery in Pennsylvania, according to Houdyshell. He said local charges are pending. He said a determination has yet to be made whether state or federal charges will be filed against McDaniel.
“She did make statements to the FBI implicating herself,” Houdyshell commented.
He said it was not known why McDaniel was in Warrenton or why she decided to rob the First State Community Bank. The rambling note McDaniel slipped the bank teller mentioned having issues with authorities in Pennsylvania.
McDaniel had a hotel room booked in her name in Kingdom City, Houdyshell said.
“My understanding was she didn’t know exactly where she was,” Houdyshell said. “There was an indication she thought she was in another state.”
According to published reports, McDaniel wore a disguise — using electrical tape to make it appear she had eyebrows, mustache and a goatee — to make herself appear to be a male in the Pennsylvania bank robbery. She used a note to demand money from the bank teller and then drove from the scene.
This is the third bank robbery to have occurred in a little over a year in the area. In May 2011, the American Bank branch in Warrenton was robbed by a St. Louis man who was arrested six days later following the holdup. The armed suspect was accused of stealing approximately $25,000.
Later in the year, Wade T. Sargent was arrested and charged four days after allegedly robbing the Jonesburg State Bank branch in Jonesburg on Nov. 14. In that incident, Sargent showed the bank teller a note and fled on food with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said. He was captured in St. Charles County.
