KANSAS CITY — An 80-year-old man charged with trying to rob an area bank told authorities he held up another bank the same day and gave the money away, according to court documents.
After a hearing Wednesday, a federal magistrate ordered that Augusta Cannon be held in detention without bond pending trial.
Cannon, a retired railroad engineer with no criminal record, told FBI investigators that he intended to provide the stolen money to underprivileged children, according to the detention order signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Larsen.
Cannon is charged with the Dec. 22 attempted robbery of the U.S. Bank branch at 8701 Blue Ridge Blvd. He allegedly pointed a gun at a teller and demanded money, but he left when she told him she did not have any, according to an affidavit filed to support the charge. He later told the FBI that he used a pellet gun.
About 15 minutes later, he told the FBI, he used the same gun to hold up a UMB branch at Interstate 435 and State Line Road. Bank employees said about $8,700 was taken in the robbery, and Cannon later told investigators that he had given most of the money away, according to the detention order.
Less than $1,000 was found in a subsequent search of his home.
No charges have been filed in that holdup.
Cannon was arrested Monday after the pastor of a south Kansas City church and several congregation members told authorities they recognized him from a bank surveillance photo published in The Kansas City Star.
Law enforcement officials said they were unaware of anyone older being accused of bank robbery in this area.
In 2002, a 75-year-old Independence man robbed a bank in Harrisonville, Mo., and used some of the proceeds to buy a 40-foot recreational vehicle, which he drove to South Dakota with family members.
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