Crime & Safety

PD: Lady Who Tried to Rob Bank Nabbed

Andrea Scala of Middletown was picked up on a warrant for the Aug. 3, 2011, attempted robbery of the South Main Street Citizens Bank.

 

A 35-year-old city woman has been charged with the  on South Main Street, according to .

Andrea Rae Scala of Mill Street was arrested for second-degree robbery, breach of peace, threatening and criminal attempt to rob a bank.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Witnesses at the time described seeing a heavy-set, white female entered the bank lobby wearing a tan hat with a brim, large, dark-colored sunglasses, a dark blue shirt, blue Capri pants and white gloves, carrying a blue reusable grocery bag. She was described as about 5 feet tall, with long, reddish-brown hair.

Police say she paced back and forth until a teller became available, approached the counter and passed her note that implied that she had a gun. It directed the teller to remain calm and to give her all the money in the drawer, according to the report.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

When the suspect was asked to remove her sunglasses, she fled the bank on foot. No money was exchanged and no one was injured during the attempted robbery.

Following the robbery, Detective Brian White was assigned as lead investigator. He received an anonymous tip that the female seen in the bank surveillance pictures was Andrea Scala, according to the report. During the next several months, White received unsubstantiated tips on Scala’s whereabouts.

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone every day with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

On April 23, White received another anonymous tip that Scala was living at 74 Mill St. She had an outstanding arrest warrant for failure to appear in connection with a March 25 incident, police say. Those charges were sixth-degree larceny and second-degree breach of peace, according to state judicial records.

Detectives found Scala at home April 24 and during an interview, the report says, Scala confessed to attempting to robbing Citizen’s Bank.

On Jan. 1, 2011, she was charged with sixth-degree larceny.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.