Neighbors shocked at charge against Cherokee resident w/ probable-cause affidavit

By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

CHEROKEE, Kan. — Neighbors say Billy Appier is usually a regular for coffee and breakfast at Cookie’s Diner on Magnolia Street in Cherokee, but the “grandfatherly” 71-year-old had not been coming around for about two weeks.

Appier was arrested Wednesday afternoon after allegedly trying to rob a U.S. Bank branch at the Northpark Mall complex in Joplin, Mo. He is charged with a felony count of first-degree attempted robbery and is being held in the Jasper County Jail on $50,000 bond.

Bomb threat

Peggy Ashbaugh said she thought her customers were trying to put one over on her Thursday morning when they told her that one of the diner’s regulars had been arrested in connection with a bank-robbery attempt.

“When I found out about it, I thought the guys were pulling my leg,” said Ashbaugh, manager of Cookie’s Diner. “I couldn’t believe it; I was totally shocked.

“He had a grandfatherly heart, and he was always trying to help anybody that he could.”

Law enforcement, including the FBI, converged before noon Wednesday on the bank after receiving calls about a robbery at the branch at 105 N. Range Line Road.

Appier reportedly told bank employees that he had planted a bomb on the roof, and demanded $100,000 in loose, nonconsecutive, old bills.

A probable-cause statement alleges that Appier visited the bank on two previous occasions, including one on Tuesday. During that visit, Appier reportedly had a conversation with a bank employee in which he discussed his experience making bombs while a member of the U.S. military, and “how much C-4 (plastic explosive) it would take to blow up the U.S. Bank.” It also states that police recovered a loaded handgun from Appier when he was arrested while leaving the bank, but the weapon apparently was not displayed in the alleged robbery attempt.

‘Out of character’

Ashbaugh said Appier has survived two strokes since 2004, and that the effects sometimes affected his memory and actions.

“There was odd little stuff,” she said. “He’d park his car out front and leave it running. He’d be here for a good hour, hour and a half, and his car would sit out there and run.”

She said she believes Appier’s alleged actions are “totally out of character for him.”