Pennsylvania Woman Charged in Bank Robbery

The Pennsylvania woman who police say robbed a Warrenton bank June 25 has been charged.

Prosecutors last Thursday charged Jasmine McDaniel, 43, Myerstown, Pa., with felony second-degree robbery. She is being held in the Warren County Jail on an $100,000 bond.

First State Community Bank, located at 1022 North Highway 47 in Warrenton, was robbed around 12:30 p.m. Monday. Police said McDaniel slipped a written note to a bank teller demanding cash in $100 and $20 bills. She then took an undisclosed amount of money and drove away in a gold-colored minivan.

Warrenton Police Chief Greg Houdyshell said McDaniel 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 less than an hour after the robbery, Houdyshell reported.

She was intoxicated at the time she was taken into custody, according to police.McDaniel admitted to robbing the bank during an interview with the FBI, according to the probable cause statement. Houdyshell said his department was assisted by the FBI and Missouri State Highway Patrol in the case prior to the criminal charge being filed.

Authorities also allege McDaniel was responsible for a June 20 bank robbery in Jonestown, Pa. She has been charged in that case.

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 foot with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said. He was captured in St. Charles County.