10. Patty robbed a bank with the SLA
Many people across the nation who were following the story of Patty’s kidnapping waited with bated breath to see what would happen next, if this “Tania” persona would take over or if Patty would come back home. What happened next was inconceivable: On April 15, 1974, two months after her kidnapping, surveillance cameras showed her carrying an M1 carbine as she and fellow SLA members robbed the Sunset District branch of Hibernia Bank. She clearly announced herself as Tania, so that there would be no mistaking that she was, in fact, now a full-fledged member of the SLA.
The US attorney general immediately denounced Patty as a common criminal. James Browning, Jr., a prominent California jurist, claimed that based on the surveillance video, her participation was entirely voluntary. Later, though, an FBI agent would argue that the SLA members who were also at the robbery had guns pointed at her head. One witness claimed that as they ran to the getaway van, Patty was a few steps behind. Perhaps she was hoping that someone would get her out of what had become a personal hell. However, a public that had previously been sympathetic to her plight quickly turned against her. People removed signs saying, “God bless you, Patty,” from their front yards.
