Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe CHICAGO, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A Chicago court has released a 79-year-old woman accused of attempted bank robbery on a $4,500 bond. Melvena Cooke, possibly the oldest female to be charged with bank robbery in Chicago, was released into the custody of her daughter by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday. Advertisement An FBI agent's affidavit accuses Cooke of walking into a Bank of America branch and asking the teller to lean in because she couldn't speak very loudly. Cooke allegedly pulled a realistic-looking toy gun out of a shoebox and said: "give me $30,000. My friend is across the street. And no dye," the affidavit claims. The teller reportedly triggered the silent alarm several times before Cooke instructed her not to move. The alleged would-be robber then left the bank and went into a store next door, where she was arrested by a police officer who was flagged down by a bank employee, the Sun-Times said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tinos Diamantatos said Cooke could face 20 years in prison if convicted.
