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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0506elderly-robber06.html
Texas bank robber with toy gun slain
Jack Douglas Jr.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
May. 6, 2005 12:00 AM
A 60-year-old woman dressed in black, armed with a toy gun and driving a motor home robbed a bank in east Texas on Thursday, then led police on a low-speed chase before she was shot and killed when she allegedly pointed her fake revolver at officers.
The woman was identified by Tyler, Texas, police as Peggy Jo Tallas, an ex-convict who became known as "Cowboy Bob" in 1992 after she pleaded guilty to robbing a bank in Mesquite, Texas, of $13,000 while dressed in a cowboy hat, sunglasses, a fake beard and mustache, and other Western attire.
Tallas was indicted in three other bank robberies that year, and state crime records indicate that she was convicted in 1977 of auto theft. n Thursday, four Tyler police officers shot at Tallas after she pointed what appeared to be a real gun at them, said Officer Don Martin, spokesman for the Tyler Police Department.
"It looked real. There was nothing to indicate it was a toy," Martin said.
Police said Tallas robbed the Guaranty Bank shortly after 11 a.m. Clutching a bank bag containing a dye pack that had exploded, she ran across a busy seven-lane road and jumped into her getaway vehicle, a Frontier motor home.
Witnesses yelled at the woman as she dodged traffic on foot while trailing smoke from the dye pack, a security device meant to mark stolen money. Hearing the emergency radio broadcast for help, off-duty Tyler police Sgts. John Brown and Gary Rice joined the chase. According to Brown, it ended after less than three miles with speeds never becoming "excessive."
The motor home stopped at a T intersection, then the "female suspect got up from the driver's seat, went back into the coach and pulled down the shades on the driver's side so you couldn't see inside," Martin said.
Officers crouched behind their vehicles, guns drawn, yelling for the woman to exit the motor home.
After five to 10 minutes, Brown said, Tallas stepped out of the motor home, pointed what appeared to be a real gun and "the officers shot her."
She collapsed and died on the street as police lobbed tear gas into her RV, believing others might be inside, according to Brown.
Texas bank robber with toy gun slain
Jack Douglas Jr.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
May. 6, 2005 12:00 AM
A 60-year-old woman dressed in black, armed with a toy gun and driving a motor home robbed a bank in east Texas on Thursday, then led police on a low-speed chase before she was shot and killed when she allegedly pointed her fake revolver at officers.
The woman was identified by Tyler, Texas, police as Peggy Jo Tallas, an ex-convict who became known as "Cowboy Bob" in 1992 after she pleaded guilty to robbing a bank in Mesquite, Texas, of $13,000 while dressed in a cowboy hat, sunglasses, a fake beard and mustache, and other Western attire.
Tallas was indicted in three other bank robberies that year, and state crime records indicate that she was convicted in 1977 of auto theft. n Thursday, four Tyler police officers shot at Tallas after she pointed what appeared to be a real gun at them, said Officer Don Martin, spokesman for the Tyler Police Department.
"It looked real. There was nothing to indicate it was a toy," Martin said.
Police said Tallas robbed the Guaranty Bank shortly after 11 a.m. Clutching a bank bag containing a dye pack that had exploded, she ran across a busy seven-lane road and jumped into her getaway vehicle, a Frontier motor home.
Witnesses yelled at the woman as she dodged traffic on foot while trailing smoke from the dye pack, a security device meant to mark stolen money. Hearing the emergency radio broadcast for help, off-duty Tyler police Sgts. John Brown and Gary Rice joined the chase. According to Brown, it ended after less than three miles with speeds never becoming "excessive."
The motor home stopped at a T intersection, then the "female suspect got up from the driver's seat, went back into the coach and pulled down the shades on the driver's side so you couldn't see inside," Martin said.
Officers crouched behind their vehicles, guns drawn, yelling for the woman to exit the motor home.
After five to 10 minutes, Brown said, Tallas stepped out of the motor home, pointed what appeared to be a real gun and "the officers shot her."
She collapsed and died on the street as police lobbed tear gas into her RV, believing others might be inside, according to Brown.
No red front end in those days. (I have a real PPK/S.) Fooled me in bright lights until I tried to pull back the slide and check the chamber.... Weight was fairly close, too - lots of pot metal, I guess.
