FREMONT — A 45-year-old Hayward woman is set to be arraigned Monday on robbery charges after police said she admitted committing a slew of crimes in the East Bay during the last two months because of "tough times."
Daphne Elizabeth Cole was being held Friday at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin in connection with six robberies and one attempted robbery at banks in Fremont, Hayward, Union City and Newark that began April 1.
She
was booked into the jail early Friday morning, a day after being arrested while leaving a doctor's appointment at Kaiser Hospital in Hayward, Fremont police Detective Bill Veteran said.
Authorities said the woman admitted to committing the crimes because of "tough times," but they would not further explain the motive.
Cole is listed in county booking records as unemployed. Her MySpace page, which has remained unchanged for more than five months, indicates that she is married and has three adult children, two sons and a daughter.
Residents at the Whitman Green Apartments in South Hayward, where Cole lived, said Cole is outgoing and friendly. They were shocked Friday to hear of her arrest.
Police said they believe Cole is responsible for six bank robberies and one attempted robbery from April 1 to May 21.
Four of the robberies took place in Fremont, and one each in Newark, Union City and Hayward. The attempted robbery happened at a Chase branch in Southland Mal
l in Hayward.
Investigators also have linked Cole to five banks — from Fremont to Castro Valley — where employees said the woman came into the bank, looked around and then abruptly left when she noticed employees looking at her, Veteran said.
For nearly two months, authorities had been seeking a black woman described as being 30 to 40 years old.
In each case, the robber wore some sort of disguise often composed of large sunglasses and some kind of head covering — a wig, handkerchief or hood from a sweatshirt.
"She obviously goes to great length to cover her hair," Veteran said earlier this week.
In each case, the robber also presented a handgun while demanding money. Police on Friday said they had not recovered any weapons.
Investigators credit Hayward Police Officer Jessica Perryman with cracking the case. The six-year veteran spotted Cole's white Jeep Cherokee in Hayward at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday as she was conducting an unrelated traffic stop, p
olice Capt. Darryl McAllister said.
The officer thought the vehicle and driver resembled the suspect and vehicle seen fleeing the bank robberies, police said.
The most recent crime was reported May 21 in Hayward.
"Catching the bad guy is sometimes a product of an officer being at the right place at the right time," McAllister said. "In some of the more difficult or hard-to-find cases, it takes tenacity, ingenuity and good old-fashioned police work to get a step ahead of a criminal who eludes capture over time. Jess Perryman is definitely a tenacious officer whose instinct and great work netted the bad guy — or in this case, the bad gal — police officers all over the East Bay had been looking for."
Investigators traced the Cherokee back to Cole, and then arrested her Thursday afternoon.
Police on Friday said they had seized a 1993 white Jeep Cherokee and a 2004 silver PT Cruiser that are registered to Cole.
Witnesses in the bank robberies noted that the assailan
t fled in similar-type vehicles.
