Amelia Finefrock
A bank teller wearing a pink floral nightgown and black lipstick was instantly recognized by her former colleagues when she held up her former workplace – stealing $126,000, according to court documents.
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On Nov. 9th, Latasha Gamble, 24, was accused of robbing the Chase Bank branch at gunpoint. On Tuesday, a judge ordered Gamble detained, according to the court records. According to court records, Gamble, who is charged with bank robbery, was taken into custody a few hours after the heist at another branch of the same bank when she reported for work as a teller.
According to the complaint against her, Gamble entered the bank at 3956 N. Sheridan Road about 9:30 a.m. and sat in a waiting area “fidgeting’’ with dog biscuits they give to customers’ pets. And according to the crminal complaint filed Monday, a staffer spotted her and noticed something felt “off”.
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She then walked to a teller window and told a teller she needed to show them some documents, but pulled a thin-barreled, black semi-automatic handgun and pointed it at a banker.
According to the complaint, she said: “Let’s go to the vault.” Gamble shoved the banker into the back and demanded they open the vault, the complaint said.
When the banker told her that would require “dual control,’’ Gamble grabbed a teller by the hair and pulled the teller toward the vault and demanded they enter their access codes, the complaint said.
“If you look at me, I will shoot,” she said to them, according to the complaint.
After the robber fled with more than $126,000, the bank staffers told authorities they were “70 percent sure” the robber was their former co-worker.
Staffers later identified her by her voice, lips, height, as well as weight. Staffers told officials the robber was wearing a dark-colored knit hat, a dark curly wig, black lipstick, black winter glove, a puffy winter coat and a pink nightgown with a floral pattern and white shoes, the complaint said.
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“Plaintiff wore a disguise, though the bank employees recognized her” as someone they used to work with, according to the complaint.
According to the court documents, after initially claiming she was with a relative that morning, and saying the gun was a toy she bought at Walmart, Gamble confessed to the heist. Gamble’s defense attorney said during the Tuesday hearing that she is a high school graduate with no criminal history and no substance abuse or apparent financial problems.
The attorney said the conduct “was an aberration” because she seemed to have no reason to have committed the crime, according to court documents. Gamble, who had worked for the bank for a year, was living with her grandmother, her parents, her young son and a sister and the sister’s child. The cash, which Gamble said she hid in a dumpster, has not been found. Gamble is scheduled for another court appearance next week.
