Police arrest 'Freedom Fighter Bandit' after alleged robbery spree in Georgia
She was dubbed the "Freedom Fighter Bandit" after she was connected to as many as nine robberies in metro Atlanta and elsewhere, police say.
Why the strange moniker?
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the woman, eventually identified as 25-year-old Nilsa Marie Urena, allegedly told tellers at the banks she was robbing them "for the movement" or "for the streets."
"She's been dubbed the ‘Freedom Fighter Bandit.’ Because whenever she goes in she passes a note or tells the teller that she's robbing the bank for some social cause," Kevin Rowson, spokesperson for the FBI Atlanta Field Office, told FOX 5.
She was described as a black woman in her 20s, with long black hair, a slender build and standing at about 5 feet seven inches, according to CBS 46.
Law enforcement finally caught up with her Saturday when she was arrested near Nashville, Tenn., after allegedly robbing a credit union, reported the AJC.
The FBI announced her capture on Twitter.
The first alleged attempted robbery began Oct. 30 at a Stone Mountain Wells Fargo bank. When she couldn't get money, she allegedly drove to a credit union 20 miles away and demanded money there, this time successfully, reported CBS 46.
There, she told the teller she would pray for her, and also threatened to blow up the bank with a bomb, according to the Clayton County Sgt. Ashanti Marbury.
After she got the money, she thanked the teller and left in a car driven by someone else, the sheriff said.
She allegedly used male teenagers as accomplices, and officials believe she was recruiting them online, reported Fox 5.
One of those alleged accomplices told WSB-TV he met Urena while walking down the street. He told the station they went to his house, slept together, and then she told him she "had a bank move." He told WSB-TV he told Urena he he didn't want to do it.
"She told me to give the people the note, but I was scared,” he told the station.
It's unclear what ties, if any, Urena has to Georgia, the FBI said.
"We don’t know where she’s from. We don’t know what her ties are to the Atlanta area,” FBI spokesperson Kevin Rowson told WSB-TV.
This story was originally published February 5, 2018 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Police arrest 'Freedom Fighter Bandit' after alleged robbery spree in Georgia."