Babysitter accused of taking two kids to bank robbery

Rachel Einspahr. Photo / AP

Police in northern Colorado say a babysitter has been charged after she brought two children with her to rob a bank.

Weld County sheriff deputies said Rachel Einspahr, 28, went through a bank drive-thru in Severance, a tiny town near Fort Collins, and sent a note up the vacuum tube.

The note said there was a man in the car who wanted cash - and that if he didn't get it, he might harm her children, police said.

"Do not sound alarm, the man in the very back wants $100s and $50s . . . no dye packs or trackers," Einspahr wrote, according to court documents cited by CBS Denver. "He has gun on my kids."

There was no man in the car, police told AP, and the two children were not Einspahr's.

Instead, she was babysitting them at the time of the robbery attempt, according to police.

"The bank teller, under the assumption that lives were in danger, gave her $500," according to a statement from the Weld County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities were called to Colorado East Bank & Trust about a woman in a white Nissan SUV who slipped the clerk a note demanding cash, the sheriff's office said.

Deputies said they searched the area and found the vehicle parked at a nearby residence.

Matt Turner, a sheriff's spokesman, told the Washington Post that after the bank robbery, Einspahr went back to the residence of the family she was working for. Authorities found her there and arrested her.

Her employers were home at the time and took custody of the children, who were unharmed.

Turner would not release details about the family but said the children were "young".

"The Weld County Sheriff's Office is thankful that nobody was hurt during this incident, but the individuals responsible for this incident are facing serious charges," deputies said in a statement.

"When another person is in fear for their life, or the life of another, there is a significant amount of trauma that they experience. Even if the aggressor may not intend to cause physical pain, the victim does not know that; this makes the threat real. The trauma from that threat is real.

"The charges that these individuals face are real as well."

ROBBERIES WITH CHILDREN

1 Late last year, police said two children were caught in a bank robbery in eastern Arkansas, when a suspect passed a note to the teller demanding money while the children were in the vehicle.
2 In southern New Hampshire, police said a man robbed a bank and made his getaway with his young son in the car.
3 This year in Kansas City, police said two men and a woman robbed a bank and led authorities on a high-speed chase - firing at officers - with a 19-month-old girl in their vehicle.

Einspahr told police that she needed the money to pay damages in another theft case, CBS Denver reported, citing court documents.

The documents state that she has more than 30 theft and forgery charges against her in another case, according to the news station.

Einspahr was charged with robbery and two counts of child abuse in the bank robbery and is being held at the Weld County Jail, police said.

Booking records show that she was arrested in 2012 and then against last month for flight to avoid prosecution.

It's still unclear whether Einspahr has a lawyer.