KINGMAN – An elderly Las Vegas man who robbed a Bullhead City bank while armed with a bb gun is going to the Arizona Department of Corrections. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle rejected probation Friday and imposed a four-year prison sentence for 79-year-old John McGuire.

McGuire rambled to the Court about being “dropped in the streets” in Las Vegas a couple of years ago and being down and out and homeless, and trying to survive without engaging in criminal activity.

Judge Carlisle said he was puzzled why Nevada authorities declined to prosecute McGuire for a bank robbery in that state, finding him mentally incompetent to stand trial. He said Arizona authorities decided otherwise, declaring McGuire’s mental competency “to be fine.”

Carlisle noted McGuire’s claim of innocence, but also said his involvement in the Oct. 17, 2017 robbery at a U.S. bank branch in the 2400 block of Highway 95. In particular, Carlisle said suspect identification was proven by the defendant’s missing finger and evidence that the robber was missing a finger too.

Attorneys and authorities have said that McGuire displayed what turned out to be a bb gun in his waistband as he presented a demand note to a clerk he told to “be calm.” McGuire fled with less than $500 in cash and was apprehended a week later at a Laughlin hotel.

Dave Hawkins