April 21, 1924 - NY's infamous 'Bobbed Haired Bandit' caught in Jax
It was a story that gripped the hyper-competitive New York tabloid media for months: A pretty young woman with bobbed hair and a sassy tongue was sticking up stores throughout the city, aided by her bruiser husband. Their spree lasted from January to March, and the hold-ups were mostly small-time affairs - small grocery stores and pharmacies. But the newspapers seized on the gun-wielder's gender and that short bob hairstyle. She represented all that was troubling about "flapper" women, their worrisome streak of independence and lack of concern about a female's traditional role. As their list of successful robberies grew, the New York Police Department grew embarrassed that a "girl" was eluding capture. At one point, 200 police were assigned to the case.
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But witnesses got a good look at the couple, including the fact the woman was pregnant. Three weeks later, authorities caught up with Edward and Celia Cooney in Jacksonville, where they had fled to a rooming house. Their newborn daughter had died there and the couple was turned in by the undertaker who buried the baby. Thousands of New Yorkers showed up at Penn Station as police brought them back to face justice. As they awaited trial, Celia was paid $1,000 to write her story for the Hearst newspaper chain. She described growing up in Brooklyn in poverty, and wrote that they started robbing so they could enjoy a better life. The couple served seven years in prison. Ed died of tuberculosis in 1936, while Celia raised her two boys on her own, never got in trouble with the law again, and died in Florida in 1992.
Read more about the Bobbed Hair Bandit:
• Miami Daily News: "Bobbed Hair" Bandit Caught
• New York Daily News: Brooklyn Housewife Celia Roth Cooney, 20, grips Manhattan as the 'Bobbed Haired Bandit"
• New York Times: Armed and Adorable
Read more about the Bobbed Hair Bandit:
• Miami Daily News: "Bobbed Hair" Bandit Caught
• New York Daily News: Brooklyn Housewife Celia Roth Cooney, 20, grips Manhattan as the 'Bobbed Haired Bandit"
• New York Times: Armed and Adorable