Unarmed woman attempts bank robbery, arrested at nearby Walmart

Personnel with Warner Robins Police Department were dispatched to the Wells Fargo Bank at 2714 Watson Blvd. at 11:31 a.m. Thursday regarding an attempted robbery, according to WRPD Chief John Wagner.

A Friday press release from the WRPD stated that an unarmed woman entered the bank wearing a mask saying, “This is a stick up. This is a robbery. Get down or else.” She went on to argue with the bank staff and ended up leaving the scene in a black vehicle without stealing any money, Wagner revealed to HHJ on Friday morning.

“She went in there,” he said. “She was wearing a mask and made those statements, and then went over to the staff and started speaking to them about either the bank stealing money from her or her stealing money from the bank.

“She never got any money, and she did take the mask off before she walked out. The [bank] staff is great, but everybody is on edge because you just had the bank robbery less than a month ago over at the [Robins Financial] credit union and a clerk shot.”

The bank security cameras captured footage of the woman’s car and license plate number, and WRPD was able to arrest 37-year-old Abigail Lane at the nearby Walmart on Watson Boulevard. Lane was charged with Criminal Attempt to Commit Armed Robbery and a misdemeanor charge of Wearing a mask, hood, or device which conceals identity of wearer.

“If you make those statements of, ‘This is a stick up. Get on the ground,’ obviously that infers you are armed,” Wagner added, revealing that law enforcement has had to rethink their methods during the pandemic since mask wearing is more common.

“Obviously, law enforcement had to adapt to the fact of COVID, but this was a Halloween mask,” Wagner said. “It was a robot-looking Halloween mask.”

He said that citizens should take events like these seriously even if nobody was physically hurt.

“If this was a joke, this was a terrible joke,” Wagner said. “You don’t go to a theater and cry ‘fire!’ and you certainly don’t go into a bank and yell, ‘This is a stick up!’ — and certainly not wearing a mask.”

The robbery at the Robins Financial Credit Union on North Houston Road less than a month ago is still under investigation, according to Wagner. Officials are working with their current evidence, and there’s a $5,000 reward being offered.

Anyone with more information regarding that case should contact Detectives Tyler DelGiorno and Karmen Thompson at (478) 302-5380. Information can also be shared with the Macon FBI office or Macon Regional Crimestoppers by calling 1-877-68CRIME.

HHJ News