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The FBI said Vanessa Thompson has been charged in connection with two bank robberies in Phoenix, one in Tempe and one in Chandler.(U.S. District Court of Arizona)<\/p>\nPHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 A woman is behind bars after she used the same method to rob four banks in the Phoenix area two years ago, according to federal court documents obtained by Arizona\u2019s Family Thursday.<\/p>\n
The FBI said Vanessa Thompson has been charged in connection with two bank robberies in Phoenix, one in Tempe and one in Chandler.<\/p>\n
The FBI said Vanessa Thompson has been charged in connection with two bank robberies in Phoenix, one in Tempe and one in Chandler.(U.S. District Court of Arizona)<\/p>\n
The first happened on April 20, 2024, just after 11 a.m. at the Wells Fargo bank on Bell Road near 35th Avenue<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thompson walked into the bank and gave the bank teller a note that said, \u201cGive me all the money. No dye packs, no GPS tracker, No 1\u2019s 3(sic) 5\u2019s. This is a ROBBERY. We don\u2019t want to hurt no one,\u201d court documents said.<\/p>\n The bank teller complied and gave her $4,600 from the bank drawer.<\/p>\n On May 18, 2024, after waiting in line for 15 minutes, federal agents said Thompson did the same thing at the Wells Fargo bank at 44th Street and Thomas Round just after 10 a.m. She gave the bank teller a threatening note and got $112 in return, documents said.<\/p>\n About two hours later, she demanded money using a note that she gave to a teller at the Desert Financial Credit Union at Broadway Road and Dorsey Lane, east of Rural Road<\/a>, agents said. Thompson got away with approximately $476, court paperwork said.<\/p>\n Then on June 29, 2024, around 9:45 a.m., the FBI said Thompson gave a threatening note to a bank teller at the Wells Fargo on Chandler Boulevard near Chandler Fashion Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n Investigators said the teller slowly pulled money from her drawer and started counting it. Thompson reportedly told the teller to hurry but got impatient and left without getting any money.<\/p>\n Federal investigators said Thompson wore the same clothes during the robberies, including the same bra and shoes, and used the same bag in the second and third robberies.<\/p>\n According to court documents, Thompson was involved in earlier robberies as the getaway driver\u2019s girlfriend, with Maxwell as the robber.<\/p>\n He was arrested on July 29, 2024, and told investigators about Thompson. Agents said they identified her in surveillance photos from the second, third and fourth robberies.<\/p>\n Schroff admitted his involvement in the robberies and was sentenced to prison in a separate case.<\/p>\n Federal investigators said they had trouble finding Thompson because she was homeless, but on Monday they finally found her in a Maricopa County jail.<\/p>\n She was behind bars for allegedly shoplifting on April 24. <\/p>\n Thompson reportedly admitted to investigators that she was in the surveillance photos and \u201cshe was the orchestrator of the robberies.\u201d<\/p>\n She was charged with four counts of bank robbery.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n