Casalou gets 2 years for San Bruno bank heist

A Menlo Park woman was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for attempting to rob a bank she had threatened to blow up, a prosecutor said.

Jacqueline Casalou, 50, was sentenced after pleading no contest to an attempted robbery charge that stemmed from the failed Sept. 8 holdup of a Chase Bank at 1200 El Camino Real in San Bruno, said Assistant District Attorney Karen Guidotti.

San Mateo County prosecutors said Casalou walked into the bank and told a teller she had planted three bombs around the branch the previous day.

She then demanded $20,000 in unmarked bills and told the employee not to give her any of the "money that explodes." Casalou also told the employee that an accomplice was watching everything.

The clerk, instead of handing over the money, told a manager what was happening. The manager called police and, as officers were pulling up, Casalou ran from the bank.

They searched the area with bomb-sniffing dogs but found no explosives. However, they located Casalou and arrested her.

Prosecutors said the woman's boyfriend was waiting outside in a car during the robbery attempt. He told officers they were having severe financial hardships, and added that he knew nothing about the crime. Prosecutors did not seek charges against him.