DeLand suspect used Votran bus to esape

By PATRICIO G. BALONA, Staff Writer
patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com
March 30, 2010 2:59 PM

DELAND -- A DeLand woman who said robbing a bank was something she wanted to cross off her "bucket list" took a bus downtown to rob one, DeLand police said.

Patricia Dianne Edwards, 51, called the heist at the Bank of America at 230 N. Woodland Blvd. on March 9 one of the things she wanted to do before she died, a charging affidavit showed. Edwards is charged with robbery of the DeLand bank and is also charged with the robbery of a second Bank of America in Sanford.

She was arrested on Friday and is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail on $20,000 bail, a booking officer said this afternoon.

On March 9, Edwards walked into the DeLand Bank of America, handed the teller a note that read "I have a gun, give me all your money. Give me straps of $100s, $50s and $20s," the police report said. The teller put the money on the counter and Edwards left the bank. Police saturated the area but could not find Edwards.

When Edwards was arrested on Friday on a warrant charging her with the robbery of a Bank of America in Sanford, the woman told DeLand detectives how she eluded them.

Edwards said she took a Votran bus from her apartment at the Applewood Apartments to downtown DeLand and got off in front of the county administration building on Rich Avenue. She planned to rob the PNC Bank at Woodland Boulevard and Ohio Avenue but left that bank because everyone at the bank greeted her. She then went to the Bank of America and waited in line, the report said.

Edwards said when she approached the teller she gave her the note telling her, "I have a gun, I will use it." She grabbed the money the teller put on the counter, walked out and boarded a Votran bus at the same place she departed and went to her apartment. Edwards said that as she rode in the bus, she watched as patrol cars and police officers swarmed the bank looking for her, the report said.

Once at her apartment, Edwards counted the money and realized she had stolen $4,300, the report said.