The woman suspected in a series of bank heists and carjackings around the D.C. area confessed to the crimes after she was arrested following a Wednesday attempted robbery and police chase, according to court documents.
Stephanie Schwab, 26, admitted to several of the incidents and provided accounts “substantially similar” to those from witnesses, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Alexandria.
Schwab — dubbed by some media outlets as the “Blond bandit” — was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after she crashed her getaway vehicle off the Capital Beltway near Old Georgetown Road, police said. She was allegedly fleeing after trying to rob a BB&T bank in McLean.
Police had been on the lookout for Schwab for more than a week. In Virginia, she was wanted in a Prince William County bank robbery, as well as a carjacking and a bank heist in Fairfax County. In Maryland, she was wanted in a Baltimore County carjacking.
The federal complaint filed Thursday only describes the Nov. 19 Fairfax carjacking and Nov. 22 Fairfax robbery. She is charged with bank robbery. She could face up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.
At an initial court appearance, Schwab, wearing a purple sweater and blue jeans, told U.S. Magistrate Judge John Anderson that she could not afford a lawyer.
Anderson ordered her to remain in custody pending a Monday detention and preliminary hearing.
