Bootheel man convicted of robbing bank, fleeing on bicycle

KENNETT, Mo. -- Prosecutors say it took only 25 minutes of deliberation among a jury of seven men and five women to find a local man guilty of robbing a bank in 2009, then fleeing on a bicycle.

The robbery happened at Focus Bank in Cardwell, Mo.

According to Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen P. Sokoloff, Samuel Bolthouse was convicted of first-degree robbery following a jury trial on Friday.

Sokoloff said two tellers on duty and a customer at the bank all identified Bolthouse as the man who handed each teller a hard-to-read note that demanded cash and threatened that they would die if they did not cooperate.

"After the tellers both told him they could not read the note, he grabbed a stack of bills that was on the teller's counter as she was processing a deposit for the customer," Sokoloff added. "The witness testified that after leaving the bank, Bolthouse rode off on a bicycle to a house about three blocks away from the bank."

According to the customer, she followed Bolthouse in her car and returned to the bank to show police where he had gone. Bolthouse was arrested at the house a few minutes later and the money was recovered.

Circuit Judge Stephen Sharp set a Feb. 9 sentencing.

The charge, according to Sokoloff, carries a range in sentence from 10 to 30 years or possible life imprisonment.

"This was a stupid crime, poorly conceived and badly executed, but that does not make it any less serious," Sokoloff said.