By Jeff Lehr

jlehr@joplinglobe.com

The affidavit of an FBI special agent reveals that investigators seized $1,700 in cash, and a cat mask, a khaki hat and a motorcycle helmet at the home of suspected bank robber Richard Bratt.

Authorities believe the items tie the 57-year-old Bratt to recent armed robberies of banks in Joplin, Webb City and Independence, Kan., in addition to Thursday’s robbery of the U.S. Bank in Neosho.

The U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Missouri filed a complaint Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Springfield charging Bratt with robbery of the Neosho bank. Custody of the defendant has shifted to federal authorities in Springfield pending a detention hearing set for Friday.

Bratt was charged last week in Newton County with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and felony resisting. He was arrested in a Wal-Mart store parking lot eight minutes after the bank was robbed.

“If the feds proceed with their charge, we’ll be dropping ours,” Newton County Prosecutor Jake Skouby said.

He said the prosecution of state charges generally gives way to federal jurisdiction in cases in which a bank with a national association, such as U.S. Bank, is robbed.

Affidavit

Special Agent M. Miles Burden of the FBI revealed in an affidavit filed with the complaint in federal court that a search of Bratt’s home on Lime Kiln Road near Diamond turned up a red, white, blue and gold cat mask believed to have been used Sept. 10 by a gunman who robbed the Commerce Bank at 2980 S. McClelland Blvd. in Joplin.

A khaki “boonie” hat found in Bratt’s bedroom appears to match a hat worn by the man who robbed the Commerce Bank in Webb City on July 10, according to the affidavit. In a storage shed outside the defendant’s home, a full-face motorcycle helmet was seized. Investigators believe it was used in the June 5 robbery of Commercial Bank in Independence, Kan.

The affidavit states that the helmet originally was white and appeared to have been painted red recently. The gunman in the bank robbery in Independence wore a white motorcycle helmet.

The affidavit states that Bratt confessed to all four bank robberies in the wake of his capture. He also allegedly admitted robbing, on May 10 and 23, respectively, the Hollywood Theaters box office and an Aldi’s grocery store in Joplin.

.38-caliber handgun

Bratt reportedly told investigators that he used a loaded .38-caliber handgun and wore white-striped black gloves in each of the robberies.

The FBI agent’s affidavit states that Bratt’s wife, Cheryl Bratt, signed a consent-to-search form in the wake of her husband’s arrest. Cheryl Bratt reportedly told investigators that her husband recently purchased a .38-caliber gun but refused to tell her from where. The affidavit states that she said she found a partially empty box of ammunition for the gun in a dresser drawer after she learned that her husband had a loaded weapon in the house.

A .38-caliber handgun was found in the white Chevrolet Lumina that Bratt is believed to have driven in several of the robberies, including Thursday’s holdup, according to the affidavit. Also seized from the car were a “Jason”-style hockey mask believed to have been used in Thursday’s robbery, black gloves with white stripes, and $12,491 in cash, including “bait bills” from the bank.

Loot uncertainty

Bratt reportedly told investigators that he was unsure how much money he obtained in several of the robberies. He reportedly said it was about $2,000 at the Aldi’s store, and “several thousand dollars” from the Joplin and Webb City banks. Investigators reportedly found $1,400 in $20 bills and $300 in $10 bills in a bedroom dresser of his home.

The agent’s affidavit indicates that audio equipment at the Neosho Police Department failed to function properly while statements were being taken from the suspect. He consequently was asked to sign brief written statements regarding each of the robberies.

The affidavit states that a written statement was not obtained with respect to the bank robbery in Kansas because the investigators who were interviewing him up to that point left to conduct the search of his property, and his later interviewers did not realize that the statement had not been obtained.

There is no indication as to whether the oversight presents any difficulties for prosecution of the case in Kansas. The Independence Police Department told the Globe last week that charges will be pursued against Bratt.

As of Tuesday, no charges had been filed against Bratt in connection with any robberies other than the one of the bank in Neosho on Thursday.

Jasper County Prosecutor Dean Dankelson said his office had yet to receive paperwork from either Joplin or Webb City police on the crimes that Bratt is believed to have committed in those towns. Dankelson said it has yet to be determined whether federal jurisdiction might apply to either of the bank robberies in Jasper County.



Recovery event

Richard Bratt apparently was attending a three-day event for recovering drug addicts in Oak Cliff, Kan., when he allegedly robbed the bank in Independence in June, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.