At 1:43 p.m. on December 21, 2022, the Citizens Bank & Trust branch in Mound City, Missouri, was robbed. The suspect was apprehended the next day. (Photo by Katie Brashears)
By Margaret Slayton, Reporter, Mound City News
A person that has been formally charged by the Holt County Prosecutor’s Office for vehicle hijacking is a person of interest in a robbery at Citizens Bank & Trust in Mound City, Missouri, on Wednesday, December 21, 2022. Forty-one year-old Marvin Joe McWhorter, III, listed from Savannah, Missouri, and Ottawa, Kansas, was taken into custody by law enforcement the following day, Thursday, December 22, for one count of vehicle hijacking. McWhorter is currently being held on a $750,000 cash or surety bond for vehicle hijacking by the office of prosecuting attorney, Robert Shepherd. The arresting agency is Missouri Highway Patrol Troop H in St. Joseph, Missouri, and McWhorter is being held at the Andrew County Detention Center in Savannah. The investigation of the bank robbery is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and is an ongoing investigation. Federal charges for the bank robbery have not been filed.
FBI spokesperson Bridget Patton said a man entered the bank at 1:40 p.m. in dark-colored clothing and wearing a camouflage ball cap. He displayed a firearm and made a verbal demand for cash. He fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of currency. There were no injuries of employees or patrons at the bank. The incident is being investigated by Holt County, Andrew County, the Missouri Highway Patrol and the FBI.
A news release by the office of Holt County Sheriff Steve Portman says that the Sheriff’s Office received a call regarding a robbery. The reporting party stated an individual wearing all black and a ski mask came into the bank, pulled out a firearm and demanded money. The suspect was driving a black sedan and left in an unknown direction.
The following day at approximately 8:45 a.m., the Sheriff’s Office received a call from an individual stating they thought they saw the suspect’s vehicle loaded on a tow truck. The Sheriff’s Office made contact with the driver of the tow truck. While law enforcement was en route to the tow truck driver’s location, the owner of the vehicle being towed attempted to take the tow truck driver’s vehicle. Law enforcement arrived on scene and took one individual into custody. The individual was taken to Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph. The individual later attempted to escape while being discharged from the hospital.
