74-year-old woman arrested after bank robbery in Fairfield Township

A 74-year-old woman with no criminal history was arrested Friday for a bank robbery in Fairfield Township.

The police incident report provides insight into what drove her to do this.

Ann Mayers of Hamilton admitted to the crime and was charged with aggravated robbery with a firearm, police said.

The incident report shows Mayers was a victim of an online scam and was desperate for money.

The crime

On Friday around 1:30 p.m., police responded to AurGroup Financial Credit Union at 3085 Creekside Drive for a bank robbery.

Credit union employees told police that a tall woman with curly gray hair and glasses, wearing a gray shirt, sweatpants and a COVID-19 mask, entered the bank.

She had two bags, which the tellers saw contained a gun, the tellers told police.

The woman demanded that one of the tellers fill a bag with money, the employees said.

The woman left the facility in a silver 2014 Hyundai Elantra and an employee called police.

Police identified the car by reviewing security footage and conducting various search methods. They then identified Mayers as the car’s owner – and the prime suspect.

The arrest

Police arrived at Mayers’ home in Hamilton at 3 p.m.

Mayers met officers at the front of the home with her sister Linda. Mayers matched the enumerators’ description of the suspect, but she was wearing different clothing.

Police took Mayers into custody without incident, and Officer Corey Stebbins drove Mayers to the Fairfield Township Police Department to be interviewed by detectives.

According to the incident report, Mayers, unprompted, told Stebbins, “I know why you’re here.”

“Why is that?” Stebbins replied.

“The bank, AurGroup, I did it,” Mayers said, according to the report.

The interview

At the police station, Mayers was advised of her Miranda rights.

She then admitted to robbing the AurGroup Financial Credit Union Bank and using a gun, the incident report states.

Mayers said she did it because she needed money and had been thinking about it, the report said.

She added that she threw away the clothing she wore during the robbery a few minutes after she drove away from the credit union, the incident report said.

When asked where the money and gun were, Mayers told officers they were in her vehicle and provided explicit descriptions of their locations.

She gave officers verbal consent to look inside her vehicle.

With a signed search warrant, several officers searched the car.

They found $568 divided into $50, $10, $5 and $1 bills.

Officers also found a loaded revolver.

The items were found in the exact location Mayers said they would be.

Mayers also took $12 from her pocket and placed it on the interview table, saying she thought she got the money from the robbery.

Potential motive

While Mayers was in custody, Linda spoke with officers and provided insight into a possible motive.

According to the report, Linda told police that Mayers had talked about committing a robbery a few times in recent days.

She voluntarily told police that her sister had been communicating with a man online for some time and that man told Mayers he worked for U.S. Customs.

Linda said Mayers had borrowed large sums of money from family and friends to send to this man, according to the incident report.

She told police Sgt. According to the report, Brandon McCroskey estimates she gave her sister at least $5,000, while another friend gave Mayers $65,000.

Mayers made a statement during a recorded jailhouse phone call about someone trying to take their house because she owes them $65,000.

Is Mayers a victim?

When asked if Mayers could be seen as a victim in this situation, McCroskey told the Enquirer: “Two things can be true at the same time. She can be a victim, but it doesn’t give legitimacy to victimizing other people, which she certainly did.”

“Those bank tellers were terrified,” he said. “She walked into a bank with a gun and robbed it.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

What happens now?

Mayers has been charged with two felonies, including aggravated robbery with a firearm and tampering with evidence for throwing the clothing she was wearing out of the car.

She is currently being held in the Butler County Jail on a total bond of $100,000.

Mayers appeared in court on Wednesday.

McCroskey said Mayers will serve at least six years and likely somewhere between 10 and 15 years as things stand now. However, he notes that this timetable could change during the trial.