NEWS

Alleged babysitter bank robber planned to pay down legal fees

Jason Pohl
jasonpohl@coloradoan.com
Rachel Einspahr

The babysitter accused of robbing a bank in Severance planned to use the loot to pay attorney's fees she incurred while fighting a slew of previous theft and forgery charges, court documents released Tuesday reveal.

Rachel Einspahr's arrest affidavit also shows the 28-year-old took the 7-year-old and 1-year-old children she was supervising to a playground and to buy candy before using the kids as part of her plan to make off with cash Friday afternoon.

Einspahr told investigators she contemplated robbing a bank in Greeley but decided to drive to Severance instead to pick the kids up from school. Then she drove around Severance, stopped at a gas station, took her license plates off the SUV and scribbled the robbery note on a piece of lined paper while parked on side street.

"Do not sound alarm. The man in the very back wants $100's and $50's no dye packs or trackers he has a gun on my kids," she wrote on the note, investigators said.

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Einspahr drove a white Nissan SUV with a pink Denver Broncos sticker up to the drive-thru at Colorado East Bank & Trust about 4 p.m. Friday. She sent the note through the vacuum tube system. The teller obliged to her demands and put 20 $50 bills in an envelope and sent it back through the vacuum tubes to the SUV. Elinspahr drove away, and Weld County Sheriff's Office deputies responded.

After the robbery, she went to the nearby school so the children could play. That's when she put her license plates back on and dumped a screw driver and gloves in a trash can.

She then went to a residence less than one-half mile away from the bank.

With surveillance video in hand and descriptions from the bank teller, deputies located her vehicle and contacted her as she exited the house. Deputies also spoke to the children, who corroborated going to the bank and watching Elinspahr put on a dark-colored sweatshirt and sunglasses.

"I can't go back to jail," Einspahr told deputies after she was taken into custody, according to the affidavit.

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She eventually confessed to the robbery and said nobody else was involved. She wanted to use the money from the robbery to pay $15,000 up front as part of her restitution for a plea deal that her defense attorney was working on — she has an open 2015 criminal case for more than 30 counts of forgery, identity theft and felony theft. She also had cases in Larimer County for identity theft.

Einspahr remains in custody at the Weld County Jail, and bond in the most recent case has been set at $40,000. Formal charges are expected to be filed Wednesday.

The family of the two children who were along for the robbery have declined media interviews regarding the incident.

"This family has already been through a lot and does not wish to have more attention brought upon them," the sheriff's office said Tuesday afternoon in a statement to news outlets.

Anyone with information regarding this or any other crime is asked to call the Weld County Sheriff’s Office at 970-356-4015 or Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or 1-800-444-3776. Tips can also be submitted through the Crime Stoppers website at www.crimeshurt.com.

Reporter Jason Pohl covers breaking news for the Coloradoan. Follow him on Twitter: @pohl_jason. 

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