Elizabeth Perkins used the bathroom before holding bank employees at gunpoint.
Already in federal custody for robbing a bank in Plant City, Elizabeth Perkins, 46, of Brooksville, now has Citrus County charges for robbing the Floral City Brannen Bank in March of 2015.
Just before 4 p.m. on March 24, 2015, Perkins walked into the Brannen Bank in Floral City and spoke to employees about opening an account. When she was notified the bank was closing, she showed a firearm and placed the employees in the vault. She took an undisclosed amount of cash, walked out and drove off.
Bank surveillance video showed a white female in the bank wearing a long purple dress and what looked like a wig.
Citrus County Sherrif's Office detectives immediately interviewed bank employees, and forensic teams started their investigation inside. Forensic specialists lifted a print off of a disinfectant spray in the bathroom of the bank. Bank employees told detectives the suspect apologized because she had thrown up in the bathroom. This was before the robbery took place.
Crime Scene Technicians also lifted fingerprints and located a paper water cup used by the suspect. The paper cup was forwarded to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, where a DNA profile was obtained showing the DNA belonged to a female. The fingerprints were run through the automated fingerprint identification system, which yielded no results.
In February, Plant City had a similar bank robbery, in which the suspect went into the bank and talked with the branch manager about financing a land purchase. She then went back the following day just before closing time, used the bathroom and came out with a weapon. She held two employees at gunpoint, bound their hands with duct tape and fled.
Once it was determined there might be a link between both robberies, the FBI stepped in. During interviews, Perkins denied any
involvement in either robbery but did admit to being in Floral City at the time of the robbery, telling investigators she was antiquing.
In June, an informant came forward to the CCSO and Plant City Police Department identifying Perkins in both bank robberies. Once the informant identified Perkins as a potential suspect, lead CCSO detective Lee Carey contacted Corrections Corporation of America and obtained historical employment fingerprints to compare to the prints lifted at the bank in 2015. The CCSO's latent fingerprint examiner expert Dave Cannaday compared both prints and determined them to be a match.
Det. Carey then showed a victim of the robbery a photo lineup, to which Perkins was positively identified as the bank robber.
On July 7, the Citrus County Sheriff's Office assisted the FBI with a search warrant of the suspect's home in Brooksville. Perkins was then arrested for the bank robbery in Plant City.
"We followed up on dozens of leads and interviewed numerous people for this case," Criminal Investigations Division Captain Brad Smith said. "I'm so proud of the work our detectives, deputies and forensics unit did on this case, and we're all glad it has now come to an end."
Perkins now has one charge of robbery and one charge of moving people during the robbery for her involvement in the Floral City Bank Robbery. She was indicted by a grand jury in Pinellas County in August.
