Former Lee’s Summit police officer pleads guilty in armed bank robbery
A former Lee’s Summit police officer who was charged with robbing a bank at gunpoint last summer has pleaded guilty, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Richard W. Hagerty, 35, pleaded guilty in federal court to armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
Hagerty was charged in an Aug. 28 robbery at Central Bank of the Midwest, 1305 N.W. Arborwalk Blvd. in Lee’s Summit.
Prosecutors said Hagerty entered the bank, pointed a pistol at a customer and yelled “Everybody get down on the floor, this is a robbery.”
Witnesses told police the robber was wearing black gloves and a camouflage balaclava-style mask that covered part of his face.
Prosecutors said Hagerty pointed the handgun at two tellers while he was demanding money, stole about $7,000 and fled.
Soon after, police spotted Hagerty in a Mazda and a pursuit ensued, reaching speeds of about 100 mph, prosecutors said. The chase ended in Grandview, and he was taken into custody.
Prosecutors said Lee’s Summit officers immediately recognized Hagerty when he got out of the car.
Inside the Mazda, prosecutors said, officers found “a large amount of cash” and a Glock .40-caliber pistol.
Hagerty had worked for the Lee’s Summit Police Department as a patrol officer from 2007 to 2016.
He left the job in August 2016, about two months after he was arrested and charged with domestic assault, court records showed. A Police Department spokesman said he couldn’t comment on the reason behind Hagerty’s departure.
Hagerty pleaded guilty to the charges in the bank robbery case on Tuesday morning.
A sentencing hearing has not been set.
This story was originally published March 12, 2019 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Former Lee’s Summit police officer pleads guilty in armed bank robbery."
