Looming Foreclosure Sparked Bank Robberies Woman Told Fbi She Robbed 5 Banks In 3 Weeks To Save House
Relatives couldn’t believe the news.
Lisa Dressel - the woman who confessed to robbing three banks in 30 minutes - isn’t a criminal, said her cousin, Della Dunphy of Spokane.
“This is not like her,” said Dunphy, who drove by Dressel’s house Friday. “She’s a very strong person who would never do that.”
Dressel admitted to robbing a total of five banks in the last three weeks after she was arrested in north Spokane Thursday. She said she was desperate to stop the foreclosure on her home, which was sold at auction Friday for $74,000, about $54,000 below its assessed value of $128,700, according to the Associated Press.
She’s scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court on Tuesday. Federal public defender Roger Peven has assigned himself to the case.
Dressel declined to be interviewed from jail Friday. Her husband, Michael Dressel, also refused to comment. No one answered the door at their home on 401 W. Jay, a tan, one-story home with green trim.
Dunphy stopped in front of the Dressel home Friday after she saw reporters at the door. She wants people to know that her cousin - a mom who runs an informal day care out of her home - is a “kind, outgoing woman” who wouldn’t normally commit a crime.
“I feel very sorry for her,” said Dunphy. The two last saw each other in November and “everything seemed fine on the surface. … She was her normal, happy self.”
Dressel told the FBI she stole $5,000 from the banks. She spent the money from the first robbery on food and Christmas gifts, she said.
Dressel, 32, has no criminal record. She never carried a real gun and had no intention of hurting anyone, she told the FBI.
These circumstances will certainly affect the court’s sentencing decision, said Tom Hopkins of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Hopkins, who is prosecuting the case, said it’s still too early in the investigation to comment.
“I don’t know what in the world was going through her head,” Dunphy said. “It’s unbelievable.”
, DataTimes