A 74-year-old woman was charged with the crime of armed robbery from the cooperative bank AurGroup Credit, in Ohio, United States, last week.
The accused woman is the victim of an online scam that would have tried to resolve financial problems, according to statements from her relatives.
Ann Mayers, who has no police record, faces charges of aggravated robbery with use of a weapon and tampering with evidence for Friday's robbery in Fairfield Township, north of Cincinnati. She is being held on $100,000 bail ahead of an initial appearance, and an attorney's name does not appear in case documents.
Officers arrested Mayers at his home in Hamilton shortly after the robbery, the Fairfield Police Department said in a Facebook message. Authorities found a revolver in her car, which police say was used in the robbery.
“Mayers remains incarcerated at the Butler County Jail pending her first court appearance, the Fairfield Police Department detailed in a statement.
Authorities have since learned that Mayers may have been the victim of a scam. Her relatives told detectives that had sent money to an unidentified individualreported the Columbus Dispatch newspaper, this Wednesday, April 24.
“In that regard, some might see her as a 'victim,'” Sergeant Brandon McCroskey told the newspaper. “Unfortunately, Ann chose to victimize other people at the bank by robbing it at gunpoint to remedy the situation for herself.”
If what his relatives say is true, Mayers' situation is “very sad and unfortunate”McCroskey said. She claimed that, according to her, she spoke to her relatives about robbing banks in the days before the assault, but they did not take her seriously.
