Woman Charged With 5 Bank Robberies She Claims She Needed Money For Mortgage, Grand Jury Hears

A Spokane woman who claims she needed money to make her delinquent home mortgage payments was formally charged Thursday with five bank robberies.

Lisa Marie Dressel, 32, is accused of taking $8,362 in five bank robberies in Spokane, beginning Dec. 15.

She was arrested Jan. 8, a short distance from one of three banks that were robbed that day.

Dressel confessed to an FBI agent shortly after her arrest, court documents say.

A federal grand jury, after hearing testimony from an FBI agent, indicted Dressel on Thursday on the robbery counts.

She initially was charged with one of the bank robberies in a criminal complaint filed before the case went to the grand jury.

Dressel, out of jail on $30,000 bond, likely will be arraigned next week on the indictment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Hopkins said.

She must remain at her north Spokane home as a condition of her release. Her trial is scheduled to begin March 16.

The first count in the indictment accuses Dressel of stealing $1,752 in the Dec. 15 holdup of Inland Northwest Bank, 3321 W. Indian Trail Road. She is accused of displaying a weapon in that robbery. The FBI said Dressel told them she used a toy gun.

On Jan. 7, the indictment says, Dressel took $2,132 in the robbery of Washington Mutual, 9414 N. Division.

On Jan. 8, she is accused of taking $2,049 in a holdup at a SeaFirst Bank, 1616 W. Northwest Blvd., and $417 in a robbery minutes later at Inland Northwest Bank, 210 E. Foothills Drive.

The fifth count accuses her of robbing U.S. Bank, 5101 N. Market, of $2,012 on Jan. 8.

Twenty minutes after that robbery, police arrested the suspect outside a bank in a Fred Meyer store at 525 E. Francis. , DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE CHARGES Lisa Marie Dressel is accused of the following: The Dec. 15 holdup of Inland Northwest Bank, 3321 W. Indian Trail Road. $1,752 was taken. The Jan. 7 robbery of Washington Mutual, 9414 N. Division. $2,132 was taken. The Jan. 8 holdup of SeaFirst Bank, 1616 W. Northwest Blvd. $2,049 was taken. The Jan. 8 robbery of Inland Northwest Bank, 210 E. Foothills Drive. $417 was taken. The Jan. 8 robbery of U.S. Bank, 5101 N. Market. $2,012 was taken.