Byron Township man recognizes Mom in surveillance photos

By John Agar | jagar@mlive.com Follow on Twitter on June 26, 2013 at 11:16 AM, updated June 26, 2013 at 1:32 PM

BYRON TOWNSHIP,

Dee Anne Sanders

MI –A man who recognized his own mother in surveillance photos of a bank robbery called police to let them know her identity, the FBI said.

He also told police where they could find her: at his Byron Township home.

Dee Ann Sanders, 53, of Martin, was indicted Tuesday, June 25, on an allegation she robbed Bank of America at 6737 S. Division Ave., on Tuesday, June 18.

She is to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids on Thursday.

The robbery occurred around 4:10 p.m.

The teller told police that the robber stood at the service kiosk several minutes, and appeared to be preparing a withdrawal slip. The robber then approached the teller and handed her a note announcing the robbery and demanding $2,500 for her children and grandchildren.

Surveillance photos showed a woman wearing a bright red T-shirt with a large American flag on the front.

Shortly after the photos were released to media, the son and several other callers identified Sanders as the robber, FBI special agent Adam Van Deuren wrote in a criminal complaint. Police found her near her son’s house on Festival Drive SW, less than a mile from the bank robbery.

Sanders admitted to robbing the bank during an interview with the FBI and a Kent County sheriff’s detective, Van Deuren wrote.

“Sanders further stated that she was stressed about problems with her husband, causing her to have crack-cocaine addiction-related urges,” the FBI agent wrote.

She was ordered detained at her initial court appearance.

The robber got away with $1,092, court records said.