In the French département of Val-de-Marne in the Ile-de-France region west of Paris, the trial is expected to begin next month of a 16-year-old girl accused of robbing seven banks.

With a brazen methodology reminiscent of early American gangster movies, the girl would enter the bank posing as a customer and level a gun at the cashiers, while the other raiders, all masked, rushed in a few minutes later and emptied the tills. They then sprayed tear gas in the faces of the staff and made their escape.

The girl, whose face caught on camera appeared on wanted posters throughout the département, was recognized by police as she strolled away from the seventh bank. After a frantic chase, she disposed of her gun by throwing it into the River Marne but still had several traceable stolen banknotes in her pockets. 

From our September 2008 e-newsletter