16-year-old charged as ‘F-bomb bandit’

SEATTLE – The bank robber dubbed the “F-bomb bandit” because of the profane notes she handed tellers during several robberies is a 16-year-old Seattle girl, charging documents filed in King County Superior Court allege.

Shennell Kennebrew was arrested earlier this month after her father brought her down to police headquarters when he saw a photo of his daughter on a local television newscast, according to court charging paperwork. Authorities have linked Kennebrew to five bank robberies in the Seattle area.

Kennebrew, her boyfriend, Dasha Taylor, 17, and another girl, Jade Beers, 17, have all been charged as adults for their alleged roles in the string of robberies. The three teens and Keith Sims, a 40-year-old with a state and federal criminal record, have each been charged with three counts of first-degree robbery.

In charging paperwork, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Dana Cashman said that Sims and Taylor had convinced the two girls to rob banks. Sims is identified as Taylor’s cousin and Beers is identified as a second girlfriend of Taylor, charging paperwork said.

After her arrest, Kennebrew said that Sims and Taylor repeatedly asked her to rob banks before she finally relented. She said that Taylor gave her a coat and hat to wear and Sims told her how to carry out the robberies, charging documents said.

Kennebrew said that she was once given $25 and a new jacket for her role in the robberies, charging documents said.

The robberies took place between Jan. 11 and Feb. 24 at banks in Seattle, Renton and Kent.

Beers was identified as the getaway driver, usually driving Kennebrew in Sims’ black Mercedes-Benz, court paperwork said. Beers told police that Taylor and Sims also coerced her into participating in the robberies, according to charging papers.

Beers said that she did not receive any of the stolen cash.

Both Taylor and Sims denied any involvement in the robberies, police said.

Court records show that Sims was sentenced to five years in prison in January 2006 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government as a founding member of a group that passed nearly $300,000 in counterfeit traveler’s checks around the Northwest in 2005. At that time, according to a government sentencing memorandum, Sims already had “an exceedingly long and often violent criminal history” that included 15 prior convictions, most of them felonies.

Prosecutors said Sims was responsible for recruiting an “exceptionally skilled” printer to make the checks. Sims did not pass any of the $100 denomination checks himself but recruited a cadre of others to do it for him, according to court documents.

Prosecutors, in asking for a 60-month sentence, said Sims had a prior felony fraud conviction in California.

King County prosecutors say that Sims is a third-strike offender who is facing life in prison if convicted on the new bank robbery charges.