Kansas judge’s purse stolen; woman arrested after allegedly going back to courthouse

A woman was arrested Friday for the alleged theft of a Reno County judge’s purse at the courthouse.

The woman was caught after returning to the courthouse for assistance in unlocking her vehicle after what appears to be a case of her mixing up the judge’s car keys with her own. Rebecca Joy Ankle, 33, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of residential burglary and theft, according to the Hutchinson News. She has since been released from the Reno County Correctional Facility, records show.

Reno County District Court Judge Trish Rose said she was returning to her chambers from the courtroom and preparing to go to lunch on Friday when she noticed her purse was missing.

Rose said she went to the security entrance to have officials pull up the security footage, which showed a woman going into her chambers and then quickly leaving with something tucked under her sweater.

While looking at the footage, Rose looked up and saw a woman coming back into the courthouse to ask for help after being locked out of her vehicle.

“It sure looked like the same woman … it just struck me how utterly unlikely that was,” Rose said.

The woman was arrested. Rose said her purse was found stuffed in napkin holder in the women’s restroom. Inside the purse were a set of keys that weren’t Rose’s.

The judge’s keys, cash and a credit card were missing.

Rose said deputies later brought her keys to her but she didn’t know if the woman tried to use them to get into the wrong vehicle. Rose said she’s still missing cash and a credit card.

The News reported that Ankle was apparently at the “courthouse because her husband, Jacob Ankle, had a pretrial hearing ... across the hall from Rose, for driving while revoked.”

Booking records show a Jacob Alan Ankle was arrested Friday night for criminal use of a financial card and theft. No one could be reached at the Reno County Sheriff’s Office to verify if it is the same person in The News’ article.

This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 6:15 PM.