The Chicago police have arrested a 79-year-old woman after she attempted to hold up a bank using a toy gun. She could be the oldest person to be charged with attempted bank robbery in the city's history.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said the woman entered a Bank of America branch in Chicago, Illinois wearing a white visor that read "princess" and black sunglasses and told a lady cashier to come closer saying she could not speak very loud having had just come from the dentist.

When the cashier leaned forward, the woman pulled out what appeared to be a gun and said, "Give me $30,000. My friend is across the street. And no dye."

But the cashier reached under the drawer and activated a silent alarm then walked away from the counter.

After no money was given to her, the woman walked outside the bank and an employee flagged down a police officer who arrested the woman.