TORONTO (Reuters)
At an age when many teenagers are
just opening their first bank accounts, a 16-year-old
Toronto girl was busy robbing them.
When Toronto police finally caught up with the female bandit,
who had committed a string of robberies in just one month, they
were shocked at her age.
"It's unusual. We had females committing bank robberies but not
this young," said Toronto detective John DeCourcy Thursday.
Police arrested the teen-ager, who has been charged with eight
counts of robbery, shortly after holding-up a
downtown bank
with an adult accomplice late last week.
Besides a penchant for robbing banks, they said the teen-ager
appeared normal -- she has a clean record and still lives at
home with her family.
However, she and another 16-year-old male became willing
recruits of a 27-year-old man who gave them lessons on how to
pull off near-flawless bank robberies.
With no disguise and clad in a sweater and pants, she would
politely show the bank-teller a hold-up note. Once given the
booty, she would
flee to where the adult accomplice waited
outside and divided up the money.
"He picked people who were vulnerable and were easily swayed.
The young people said they needed money," DeCourcy told Reuters.
In all, the group made off with about C$5,000.
Police said they would have caught her sooner if it wasn't for
the Young Offenders Act provision that bars them from publishing
a picture or description of a suspected young offender.
"I'm glad we were able to bring the case to
an end and hopefully
assist the young people to get back on track," said Decor.
