‘I figured I should come here before it got bad’: La Grange bank robber changes mind, turns himself in

La GRANGE, Mo. — Moments after leaving Town & Country Bank Monday afternoon with his pockets stuffed with cash, a La Grange man walked into the La Grange Police Department and turned himself in.

Details about the attempted robbery and subsequent arrest of Jason Edward Day, 49, became available Tuesday after a probable cause statement from Chief Aaron Johnson with the La Grange Police Department was submitted in Lewis County Circuit Court by Lewis County Prosecuting Attorney Chelsea Fellinger.

Day has been charged with the Class B felony of stealing from a financial institution. If found guilty, he faces a sentence of between five and 15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Johnson wrote that at approximately 1:13 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8, he was notified by NECOMM 911 of a hold-up alarm at the bank, 110 Main. He said he was at his desk at the time and looked at a monitor with eight security cameras, two of which show areas near the bank, which is just around the corner from the police department at 204 W. Washington.

“When I looked at the front parking lot camera, I observed a person I know to be Jason Day walking toward the front door of the police department,” Johnson wrote. “In his front left jacket pocket was something sticking out that appeared to be money.”

Johnson went to a secure window looking into the lobby and saw Day sitting in a chair, with large sums of money protruding from both front pockets.

When Johnson asked Day what was going on, Day replied, “I figured I should come here before it got bad.” 

Day was taken into custody at 1:16 p.m. Five minutes later, Day was read a Miranda warning. He then told Johnson he “changed his mind.” He said he told a gray-haired lady to give him the money, and after she gave him the money out of her drawer, he walked out of the bank and to the police department.

Day then gave Johnson a written statement that read, “I walk in the bank ask for money they gave it to me. Then I decided to walk over to the police department and turn myself in.”

A statement from the bank teller said she believed Day was coming in to open an account. Day told her he had changed his mind and didn’t want an account, then said, “I just want all your money.” She said Day shoved his hands in his pockets and thought he might have a gun, although she didn’t see one.

Judge Corey Ray Moon set Day’s bond at $100,000. He is lodged in the Clark County Jail in Kahoka.

She emptied her entire cash drawer on her desk. Day shoved the money in his pockets and left the bank with $9,918.