A Montgomery Township woman has pleaded guilty to robbing a Princeton bank at gunpoint last summer — using a painted water pistol — and escaping with more than $60,000 in cash.
Ciara Brascom, 38, admitted in federal court Tuesday to a single count of bank robbery stemming from the July 28, 2024, holdup at a TD Bank branch on Route 206 in Princeton. According to authorities, she signed a plea agreement on April 22 and is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
A federal criminal complaint filed in January said that Brascom entered the bank shortly before it closed at 2 p.m., wearing red prescription glasses, a blue hat with a white logo, a blue medical mask and carrying what appeared to be a black handgun.
Surveillance footage showed Brascom walking up to a teller and handing over a note that demanded cash and warned that a gun would be used if the alarm was activated.
Authorities said Brascom then pulled what looked like a black handgun from her pants pocket and pointed it toward the teller.
When the drawer was found to be empty, two employees escorted her to the vault, where they opened a safe and gave her approximately $60,500 in cash. Brascom left through the front entrance carrying the money in her hands.
The investigation later revealed that the weapon was a toy water pistol, spray-painted black to resemble a real gun.
Brascom told FBI agents during a voluntary interview in September that she had gone to a store the morning of the robbery looking for a realistic-looking toy gun. When she couldn’t find one, she bought a pack of water pistols and a can of black spray paint instead.
She said she went home, painted one of the toy guns, waited for it to dry, then drove to the bank to carry out the robbery. Brascom also admitted to writing a note that said something like “Give me the money. Don’t call the cops,” though she said she couldn’t remember the exact wording.
After the robbery, Brascom said she went home and threw away the water pistols, the blue hat and the demand note.
The complaint describes Brascom as a billing specialist and single mother who told agents she was under severe financial stress and had devised the plan earlier that day.
Brascom was arrested in September 2024 after being identified through surveillance and other evidence. The case was later transferred to federal court.
She has been on home detention while awaiting sentencing. Under her plea agreement, Brascom must repay the full amount stolen.
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