The Bobbed-Haired Bandit of NYC
In the winter of 1924, as the jazz echoed down alleyways and the smell of prohibition gin filled speakeasies from Harlem to Hell’s Kitchen, Brooklyn faced a different kind of drama. A quiet revolution. A showdown that wasn’t waged by gangsters or crooked politicians—but by a woman with a pistol, a perfect bob, and a no-nonsense attitude that would’ve made Bonnie Parker blush.
They called her The Bobbed-Haired Bandit, and for three months, she wasn’t just the most wanted person in New York City. She was the most talked-about.
But beneath the headlines and hysteria lies a story that’s both heartbreaking and wildly entertaining. A story of poverty, pregnancy, pride—and a police department that couldn’t catch a cold.
The Setup: A City on Edge and a Woman at Her Limit
It started like a scene from a silent film. On January 5, 1924, a woman walked into a Park Slope grocery store asking for eggs. She wore a fur coat, heels, and confidence. When the clerk turned to get her order, she pulled a gun. Her partner—tall, lean, quiet—came in behind her with two more. They were gone in under a minute with $680—roughly $11,000 in today’s money.
The press couldn’t get enough. A woman! With a gun! Robbing stores in fur and lipstick? The papers dubbed her the Bobbed-Haired Bandit—and suddenly every girl with a fashionable haircut in Brooklyn was getting side-eyed by strangers and cops alike.
But this wasn’t about fashion or rebellion. It was about survival.
She was pregnant. Her husband worked as a mechanic. They couldn’t make ends meet. The rent was due. The baby was coming. The American Dream had let them down, so they decided to take it—one till at a time.
Robbery, Rinse, Repeat: The Crime Spree Begins
They hit again. And again. A&P stores. Bohack’s groceries. Small pharmacies. Always at night. Always fast. She’d walk in first, calm and pleasant. He’d follow, guns drawn. She barked orders like a pro. He kept the crowd back. It was like a stage play—one they had rehearsed to perfection.
Sometimes they left with under $100. Sometimes $300. Once, nearly $700. Each haul kept them afloat just a little longer. New furniture. A better apartment. Doctor visits. Nothing extravagant. Just breathing room. Just the basics.
But the attention? That part came free. The New York Daily News, the Brooklyn Eagle, even papers overseas ran front-page stories. Was she a flapper turned felon? A feminist icon? A criminal mastermind? The questions flew faster than the police cars chasing her shadow.
Meanwhile, the NYPD was embarrassed. Every time a grocery got knocked off, Commissioner Enright’s blood pressure climbed another notch.
Oops: The Wrong Women, the Wrong Theories, and the Right Amount of Panic
As the robberies racked up, so did the false arrests. First came a salesgirl walking home. Then Helen Quigley, a young actress with bobbed hair and unfortunate timing. One woman was held for having, quote, "masculine ankles." Yes, ankles.
At one point, detectives suggested the bandit might be a man in drag. Because, naturally, it was easier to believe in cross-dressing criminal masterminds than to accept that a woman could be smart, fast, and armed.
The real bandit responded by leaving handwritten notes at the crime scenes:
"You got the wrong girl. I ought to know—I’m the right one."
She signed it “The Bobbed-Haired Bandit and Companion.” She even mocked one of the clerks she robbed, asking if he’d fixed his broken register yet.
This wasn’t just robbery—it was performance art. And the city was her stage.
Escalation: Shots Fired and a Slippery Getaway
Things turned serious in March. During a robbery, a customer walked in and tried to intervene. He got shot. It was the first injury of the spree, and the tone shifted.
No longer just a stylish stick-up artist, she was now officially dangerous.
Then came April 1, 1924. Their last job. A payroll heist at the National Biscuit Company. It should’ve been a big score—$8,000 sitting in the office. But it went sideways. Someone fought back. A shot rang out. The couple panicked. They fled, leaving the money behind.
It was messy. And it gave detectives their first real lead.
The Chase Ends in Grief
They fled to Jacksonville, Florida, using aliases. There, she gave birth to a baby girl.
The baby died a few days later.
Grief-stricken and broke, her husband wired home for funeral money. The cops were watching. Within days, the NYPD knocked down their boarding house door.
She raised her hands and said, “I won’t shoot if you won’t.”
Just like that, the spree ended.
What Happened Next
Back in New York, they were paraded through Penn Station like fallen celebrities. The crowd was bigger than the one that had gathered for the President that week.
She confessed. Said she just didn’t want her baby born in poverty. She served 7 years in prison, got out, and lived quietly under a new name.
She raised two sons who had no idea who she really was.
Not until after she died.
Why Her Story Still Echoes
The Bobbed-Haired Bandit wasn’t just a criminal. She was a symbol. Of a city in transition. Of a woman refusing to stay powerless. Of how poverty pushes people past their limits.
She didn’t kill for money. She didn’t take from customers. She didn’t try to get famous. But for one unforgettable season in 1924, she showed New York what desperation looks like when it puts on heels and grabs a gun.
And in doing so, she rewrote the rules—if only for a moment.
🎧 Want the full story with all the scandal, sarcasm, and chaos?
Listen to our newest episode of Crime Clueless, where we dive deep into the legend of the Bobbed-Haired Bandit and the city that tried—and failed—to hold her back.
Resource List on the Bobbed-Haired Bandit
Duncombe, S., & Mattson, A. (2006). The Bobbed Haired Bandit: A True Story of Crime and Celebrity in 1920s New York. New York: New York University Press.
Basu, A. (2017, January 5). How we forgot the Bobbed Haired Bandit. Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bobbed-hair-bandit
Soergel, M. (2024, April 10). After notorious crime spree, 'Bobbed Haired Bandit' nabbed in Jacksonville 100 years ago. The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville.com). https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2024/04/10
Ephemeral New York. (2016, July 21). The “bobbed-hair bandit” on the run in Brooklyn. EphemeralNewYork.com. https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2016/07/21/the-bobbed-hair-bandit-on-the-run-in-brooklyn/
The New York Times. (1924, April 22). Bobbed Hair Bandit captured in Florida. The New York Times Archive. (Available via ProQuest or TimesMachine)
House, A. (2006, March). She robbed to furnish a nursery. New York Daily News. https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/robbed-furnish-nursery-article-1.613882
Collins, G. (2005, December 11). 1924: The year of the Bobbed Haired Bandit. The New York Times Retro Report. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/weekinreview/1924-the-year-of-the-bobbedhaired-bandit.html
Miller, N. (2017). The New Woman and Crime in the Jazz Age. In Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern (pp. 115–142). Harper Perennial.
National Archives and Records Administration. (1924). NYPD case files and photographs of Celia and Edward Cooney. [Microfilm collection].
Yesterday’s Print (Tumblr Archive). (n.d.). Historical crime clippings: The Bobbed Haired Bandit, 1924. https://yesterdaysprint.tumblr.com/tagged/bobbed+haired+bandit
FBI. (n.d.). Celia Cooney historical profile (archived fugitive case notes). Federal Bureau of Investigation. [Available through FOIA request or historical documents archive].
New York Public Library Archives. (n.d.). Photographic evidence and newspaper clippings of the Bobbed-Haired Bandit (1924). NYPL Digital Collections. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org
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