BB Gun Bank Robber With History Of Stick-Ups Gets 7 Years For Hyde Park Heist

A Hyde Park man with a history of bank robberies added another to his rap sheet when he confessed to holding up a bank in 2019, according to federal authorities. Now, he'll spend the next seven years in prison for it.

Federal authorities said Paul Wooten, a serial robber, admitted to holding up a Rockland Trust bank in 2019. He was sentenced to seven years in prison on Wednesday, June 21.
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Josh Lanier

06/21/2023 3:34 p.m.

Paul Whooten, 59, was sentenced on Wednesday, June 21, for robbing a Rockland Trust Bank branch in Hyde Park, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said.

Whooten walked into the bank on 1196 River St bank on Dec. 21, 2019, in a mask and carrying what looked like an assault rifle and pointed it at the teller, authorities said. He demanded cash and walked out of the bank with $13,603.

But he didn't get to keep the money for long. Surveillance video of Whooten inside the bank was quickly sent out to officers, and he was spotted soon after the robbery. He was carrying the "rifle" — which turned out to be a BB gun — and the cash from the heist, authorities said.

This won't be Whooten's first time in prison. He served nearly 12 years for a Wayland robbery in 2000, authorities said. He and an accomplice used a toy gun to hold up a store.

In 2011, he built a fake gun and used it to rob a UPS Store in Boston with an accomplice, officials said.

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