Woman Jailed After Joke About Robbery

Grand Junction Sentinel ^ | January 7, 2004 | Associated Press.

[Holly_P]

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — A grandmother jokingly demanded money from a bank teller — and ended up spending the night in jail.

Ellen Ann Sheets, 43, was arrested Monday after a teller at American Heritage Bank called police and said Sheets had demanded money. Sheets was released Tuesday after a night in Benton County Jail.

An investigation revealed Sheets didn't intend to rob the bank, and felony charges of attempted bank robbery won't be filed, said police Capt. Richard Wilson.

The case will be referred to the city attorney's office for possible misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges against Sheets, he said.

Ellen Sheets, who has an account at the bank, went there to ask about a bounced check, her husband said.

She jokingly told the teller to give her all the money, and then asked to talk to a loan officer, Dennis Sheets said.

It wasn't until after Sheets spoke with the loan officer, and after Sheets had left the bank, that the teller decided to call police. Nobody at the bank sounded any alarms.

Police arrested Ellen Sheets at her residence while she was feeding her 17-month-old grandson, Dennis Sheets said.

"Anyone who knows us knows this isn't what we do," he said. "My wife's not a bank robber."

[af_vet_1981]

A grandmother at 43 discussing bounced checks at the local bank. Lovely.

[EggsAckley]

They let her leave the bank? This makes no sense.

[SquirrelKing]

It's like yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater or "cheap DVD players!" in Wal-Mart.

[AgThorn]

Well, one can be assured that this little old lady will be taking her business elsewhere. Either the employees at this bank are just stupid or this lady must have said something rather threatening.

But I can't make the similarity to yelling "Fire", although at first I would. The fact that she is a customer and she talked to the bank manager before leaving and no authorities were called till after she left seem more a case of "following procedure" probably sent down from some head office.

[Living Free in NH]

A grandmother at 43 discussing bounced checks at the local bank. Lovely.

I became a grandfather at 39 and I couldn't be more proud.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

My grandmother was 43 when I was born? What's so scandalous about 21 year-old women giving birth?

[Sir Gawain]

Stupid decision by the bank. Common sense is a rarity these days.

[OrioleFan]

I was hoping this was about Hillary's Ghandi joke. Darn!

[maggief]

Joke Leads To Woman's Arrest For Bank Robbery

Jan 7, 2004 7:24 am US/Central
St. Cloud, Minn. (AP) A St. Cloud woman who jokingly asked a bank teller for money and was arrested later at home is considering a lawsuit against the bank and police.

Forty-three-year-old Ellen Ann Sheets was arrested Monday after a teller at St. Cloud's American Heritage Bank called police and said Sheets demanded money. Sheets spent the night in Benton County Jail and was released yesterday.

Police say an investigation revealed Sheets didn't intend to rob the bank, and felony charges of attempt bank robbery won't be filed.

The case will be referred to the city attorney's office for possible misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges, he said.

Sheets' husband says his wife is pondering a lawsuit against the bank and police.

Sheets, who has an account at the bank, went there to ask about a bounced check. She jokingly told the teller to give her all the money, and then asked to talk to a loan officer.

It wasn't until after Sheets spoke with the loan officer, and after Sheets had left the bank, that the teller decided to call police. Nobody at the bank sounded any alarms.

Her husband says police arrested Ellen Sheets at her residence while she was feeding her 17-month-old grandson.


http://wcco.com/localnews/local_story_007082512.html

[af_vet_1981]

My grandmother was 43 when I was born? What's so scandalous about 21 year-old women giving birth?

Very little is scandalous within this generation. The scandal would be if they were giving birth out of wedlock, bouncing checks, and asking for handouts across multiple generations.

[MEGoody]

"Well, one can be assured that this little old lady will be taking her business elsewhere."

While I agree the bank teller acted, well, oddly, I doubt the bank is going to miss this lady's business much.

[af_vet_1981]

I became a grandfather at 39 and I couldn't be more proud.

Why did you wait so long ? Surely it could be done by the late twenties ?

[waterstraat]

Have you seen bank tellers lately? lots of them are immigrants who dont understand "jokes". No one in their right mind would think that she was intending to rob that bank, bank robbers dont spend a lot of time talking to loan officers.

[b4its2late]

HOLY SHEET!

[cyborg]

hahaha

[Living Free in NH]

I became a grandfather at 39 and I couldn't be more proud.

Why did you wait so long ? Surely it could be done by the late twenties ?

I didn't want to get my sister/cousin drunk until she got older.

[Rebelbase]

D'OH!

[trussell]

Each generation -at conception- could have been 18 years and 9 months. The babies would/could have been born when the adults were 19 1/2 years old. What's wrong with that, they were at least adults before conception.

[af_vet_1981]

What's wrong with that

It depends on the generation and the culture. When I read about a 43 year old grandmother arrested for allegedly trying to joke about holding up a bank after dealing with a bounced check (ostensibly from her account) and going home to feed her grandchild I start to think this could be a problem family ...

The real problem with welfare is not spending money to help people, but rather spending money on families that do not repair themselves, that repeat the same errors/mistakes/sins/crimes from one generation to another, all with growing numbers of dependents.

Of course this does not happen in the real world ...

Just ask the palestinians.