Don’t move — or you’ll get wet!
A New Jersey woman is accused robbing a bank using a water gun painted to look like a real pistol — and making off with $60,500.
The incident happened in July, when Ciara Brascom brought the squirt gun with her to the TD Bank on Route 206 in Princeton, the US Attorney’s Office said this week.
Brascom, 39 — clad in a COVID mask, red glasses and a blue hat — hid the toy gun in her pocket and whipped it out as she reached the teller station shortly before 2 p.m., prosecutors said.
The Montgomery Township woman passed a note that read “Give me the money,” and threatened to “use the gun if the bank’s alarm was activated,” according to prosecutors.
A second teller escorted her to the bank’s vault, where she snatched up the cash and then ran off, the criminal complaint alleges.
Law enforcement agents ultimately identified and criminally charged Brascom in September, after she met with federal agents in Princeton, the complaint reads.
Brascom allegedly admitted to authorities that “certain [unspecified] financial
difficulties fueled her” to rob a bank, authorities said.
“In particular, she admitted that she went to a store to purchase an imitation, toy gun that looked like an authentic gun to use during the robbery,” the criminal complaint alleges.
“She stated that the store lacked such a toy gun, so she instead purchased a pack of water pistols and can of black spray paint to make it look more realistic,” the complaint reads.
If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, officials said.
