In conjunction with the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Crimes Task Force arrested a Cleveland woman last week suspected to have robbed four banks in the Cleveland area. Lateesha Scott, 32, was wanted for a Sept. 4 robbery of the U.S. Bank on West 25th street, a Sept. 14 robbery of Key Bank on Broadway, a Sept. 17 robbery of another Key Bank on West 25th street and another robbery four days later at a Charter One Bank on 113th Street.
Lateesha Scott was found hiding behind a washing machine in a Cleveland apartment building on the 22, at 7:15 p.m. She told authorities that she was seven months pregnant and high on crack cocaine at the time of her arrest, according to Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Koerbel. Scott has a lengthy record of drug and theft arrests.
Scott entered the four banks, slipped a note to the teller instructing them to hand over the cash to avoid being shot, stuffed the money in her jacket and walked away. Although there have been eight bank robberies in the Cleveland area over the past month, Scott is only connected to these four.
Following her arrest, Scott has also been charged with the murder of Robert Moncrief, a 65-year-old Cleveland resident who was found strangled in his apartment earlier this month. The bail for both cases is set at $4 million.
Anyone that has information in relation to the other bank robberies is asked to call the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at 1-866-4WANTED. Reward money is available.
Five out of the last six bank robberies that have occurred in Ohio have been committed by women, according to NBC4 Columbus. 2010 has had a nationwide spike in bank robberies, with more than three dozen reported cases occurring in central Ohio alone.
According to ABC News, in early January, two Ohio girls, ages 12 and 14 robbed a Cincinnati suburb bank without even threatening the teller with a weapon. The girls then managed to escape a police dragnet that consisted of a helicopter and dogs.
This pattern of females committing bank robberies is a new trend in the United States. In addition, Fox News reports that these robberies by women are almost always done without the use of a weapon. Instead, women are prone to handing the tellers notes with money demands written on them.
However, some similarities do remain. Studies have shown that the major motive behind bank robberies is addiction. Men and women have shown that their major reason behind holding up bank facilities is to obtain money to feed their drug habits quickly.
Some states have taken matters into their own hands to deter potential bank robberies. In Texas,†† Chapel Hill Bank has allowed customers to carry an armed weapon into† their facility in the hopes that it will scare away†† people looking to rob them.
As the problem continues to grow worse, authorities are looking for productive and reliable ways to secure banks around the country and prevent more robberies from occurring.