Stealing money from a bank was "a bad idea" one of the so-called Barbie Bandits testified Thursday in the trial of the alleged mastermind in the case.

It was the "worst decision I ever made," testified Ashley Nicole Miller. She said she was "romantically involved" with Michael Darrell Chastang, whom she met at Prime Time, a Decatur nightclub.

File photo (ENLARGE)

After the robbery, the girls headed to Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans in Buckhead where they appeared on this surveillance camera.

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Prosecutors contend that Chastang was behind the February 2007 job because he put Miller and Heather Lyn Johnston, the two young women who pulled it off, in touch with the bank teller.

Chastang is charged with theft by taking in the case.

Johnston, Miller and Benny Herman Allen III, the bank teller, have pleaded guilty to theft charges. They are awaiting sentencing and are testifying against Chastang in the case.

The bank teller in the Barbie Bandits bank theft trial refused to finger the alleged mastermind in the case Thursday afternoon..

Allen would not answer the prosecutor's questions about who set the heist in motion.

"I'd rather not answer the question," Allen said after a long pause.

The only sound in the courtroom was the hum of its heating and air conditioning system.

After several attempts to get Allen to implicate Chastang, prosecutor Bonnier Derrer had him read excerpts of his guilty plea in February.

Allen read his own words in which he told Superior Court Judge Mary Staley about Chastang's involvement.

Johnston and Miller testified Thursday that the bank job started out as a joke.

When the young women complained that they didn't want to go to their jobs as dancers at a Buford Highway strip club, Chastang told them he knew someone who worked at a bank.

The next day, Feb. 27, everything was in motion with Chastang calling them to ask if they were ready.

A series of phone calls followed with Allen giving them directions to an Acworth Kroger, the supermarket branch where he worked. The pair got lost on the way and ended up at the wrong branch.

Allen told them what to write in the demand note.

After the heist, Miller and Johnston said they gave Chastang $5,000, which he was to split equally with Allen.

During Johnston's testimony, the prosecution played her videotaped questioning by Cobb County police detectives.

During the one-hour interrogation, Johnston told detectives that Miller was her best friend. "Well, actually we're pretty dumb to tell you the truth," Johnston told detectives.

"Sometimes, we end up following each other's ideas."