Toothless Bank Robber Says She Did It For Dentures: Evelyn Marie Fuller Arrested

Some law enforcement officers take a bite out of crime, but a woman in Pennsylvania says she resorted to bank robbery just to chew her food more easily.

Evelyn Marie Fuller, 49, was arraigned Tuesday on two counts of robbery and other charges stemming from a Jan. 20 bank robbery according to the Observer-Reporter newspaper.

Her motive: She needed money for dentures, cops say.

"During her confession, she stated she wanted to use the money to pay for dentures she was unable to get through welfare until next year," Waynesburg Patrolman Tom Ankrom, her arresting officer, told the paper.

According to the police report, Fuller allegedly entered the First National Bank minutes before the bank was scheduled to close and handed a teller a note demanding for a specific amount of cash.

The note warned the teller not to call police and stated she had a gun. But she never actually flashed the gun, according to TheTimes-Tribune.com.

During the robbery, Fuller reportedly kept her head down and didn't talk, Chief Tim Hawfield said, according to CBSNews.com.

DUMB CRIMINALS GALLERY (Story continues below)

A bank employee reportedly recognized Fuller as someone from her church and gave her name to the police, who distributed a surveillance photo of the robbery. An unnamed witness noticed Fuller in the photo -- realizing he'd loaned Fuller the coat that the robber was seen wearing in the picture.

The man told police Fuller returned the coat because the zipper didn't work, and police said it matched one the robber is wearing in the picture, according to the Associated Press.

During arraignment, Fuller told the District Judge she has mental health problems and is on medication, and her only source of income is from disability insurance. Until her arrest, she had been living with her daughter in Carmichaels, Pa., and before that lived in a mobile home.

Fuller faces a preliminary hearing next Tuesday, but she's already apologizing in comments she made to the Observer-Reporter.

"I'm very sorry for what I did, and I know God is going to punish me for it," Fuller told the paper, adding that her pastor had told her to tell the truth. She also asked the paper to print, "WWJD Thank you for all your prayers."

Surveillance videos from cameras on buildings in the area of the bank also had shown the robber exiting a vehicle prior to walking to the bank and investigators said they want to find out who might have been driving the vehicle and what the driver knew about the robbery.

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Comments

[knicole001]

01:49 PM on 02/14/2012

you cant be too mad at her for that...at least her crime made sense.

[Cody30]

04:54 PM on 02/08/2012

Well atleast she would have gotten them FREE had she been patient enough.

[NAOMA]

10:41 AM on 02/07/2012

I would suggest she go on a "liquid diet."

[wadisplace]

10:15 AM on 02/07/2012

A sad situation. But she will get jail time, mental health treatment, and new dentures from the prison system. She will probably be given a short time in jail, and probation after that. Send the bill for the dentures to Romney.

[huffhuff7]

09:13 PM on 02/06/2012

This is not funny, this is sad.

[tararawr]

06:53 PM on 02/06/2012

The whole situation is so sad. People are becoming so desperate for the basic needs in life. I'm not defending her or saying her actions were right, but I do feel sorry for her and everyone involved.

[R Wade]

08:33 AM on 02/06/2012

Well, Romney's "Safety Net for the Poor" will fix that...... Not stating that this is "his" fault but America is becoming a less "caring" nation...

It's "dog eat dog", "you get yours I get mind", "not my problem", while the KOCH Brothers pledge $$$150 million to a Super Pac for a election on derogatory TV ads...., We wasted $$3 billion per week in IRAQ..... and corporations and Wall street dodge taxes of which I am sure that woman contributed in some form of taxes/profits during her life time....

We have no one to blame but ourselves......

[Oliver Zilemslu]

05:57 AM on 02/06/2012

teeth or no teeth. she doesnt look like she's missed many meals. perhaps she should have stolen a comb

[sedunning]

08:27 PM on 02/06/2012

and a bra too.

[glenaurora]

03:27 AM on 02/06/2012

This is a two parter: 1) Yes, Evelyn Marie Fuller appears to be in need of dentures. And 2) No, it's not OK to rob, steal or commit felonious acts to satisfy our needs. Noted was: She was of self proclaimed mental deficit, she was member of a local church. In conclusion, guilty as charged is the I feel.

[VanTroi]

11:22 PM on 02/05/2012

Around here the wait at the dental clinic is over two years! The hospital down the street is a teaching hospital filled with medical students and people cant get care.

[amy carson]

10:27 AM on 02/05/2012

It's hard not to feel sorry for her.

[Vincent McGuyer]

09:49 AM on 02/05/2012

This is depressing.. I feel bad for this woman. After reading the comments though, I was reminded of the man that had a heart attack something like 20 feet from the entrance to an emergency room, and despite his wife's pleas none of the staff would help him until she called an ambulance for him.. That's just insane, he was 20 feet from the entrance to an ER... I think he lived, but that doesn't make it right.. Then there are the hospitals that hire cabs to drop homeless people off near shelters once they've taken care of the 'main' issue they came in for, some of which are serious, ER worthy injuries. They're dropped off still in the hospital robes, sometimes with the IV's still in, but the hospitals dope them up really good and remove the wrist band to try and get away with it without any repercussions.. The state of medical affairs in this country is just sick, so of course people are going to get desperate. I don't know how anyone could expect some of them NOT to.

[sedunning]

08:26 PM on 02/06/2012

come up with some facts (with sources) please. I work for a large hospital chain that was charged with dropping a homeless person off by ambulance to her tent city spot in skid row in LA. Where she wanted to go. Had a hospital gown on because she was very large, refused the clothing offered to her at the hospital, or so it was reported. She did not want to go to the shelter, as many of the homeless do not. They don't like the crowding, the noise, afraid people will steal their stuff, and don't like the rules about not drinking, smoking, etc. I deal with the homeless every day at work in the ER. We have bins of clothing we use to clothe them as needed, we give meals, constantly doing social work referrals. Some have burned all their bridges, no family members and no shelters will take them any more due to history of aggression, stealing, etc. When they closed all the big state mental institutions years ago, they did no favors to this portion of our society who need constant supervision and care because they are mentally ill. And get the facts straight about the "outside the door" story too. Happened in a gang neighborhood in Chicago (Ravenswood hospital) it was a gunshot wound, and the staff were not allowed to go out to tend to him because there was still shooting going on in the neighborhood. Look it up, you can find these incidents.

[Vincent McGuyer]

04:29 PM on 02/07/2012

I'll re-find where I got the facts about homeless people being dumped. It was a documentary, and I tend to watch a lot of those so give me a day or two. I don't want to give you the wrong name. As for the man outside of the hospital, I was talking about a heart attack, but it was my bad in that the incident I was speaking of happened in Canada and I got that and another mixed up. It's great that your ER does a lot for the homeless, and it would be awesome if ALL ER's were as kind, but the sad fact is, they're not. Hell, I've gotten treated like pond scum for going in without insurance.. Of course, that was in Utah. It almost makes me cringe to say it, but I've had better treatment since moving to Texas.. Fell down the stairs and whacked my head, the ambulance was there FAST (a faster reaction than the fire department a few years ago.. who showed up when called, but only showed up AFTER my fiance' had already put the kitchen fire with a garden hose XD - His room was on the other side, he didn't really want to wait.), and the paramedics were cool as was the ER staff. Wish they hadn't cut up my favorite pants though. :P

[flamealchroy]

02:34 AM on 02/05/2012

What she did was wrong but my heart is breaking for this woman. What is this country turning into.

[glenaurora]

03:47 AM on 02/06/2012

That was my first conclusion as well but if a person can not function in society and has become violent in their tendencies then by all means we as a society need to remove certain aspects of freedom from that individual. That threat could have been real.

[flamealchroy]

03:57 AM on 02/06/2012

I'm not disagreeing with you there. But I believe we also need to take steps to help prevent this form of desperation from others in the future.

[bluefalcon06]

09:19 PM on 02/04/2012

Well, now you will get all the health care you want in prison and all the food you can chew!

[jenalan]

02:44 PM on 02/04/2012

"I know God is going to punish me for it." How sad that this suffering woman, so driven to this desperate act believes she's in for even MORE punishment. All she wants is to chew food.