Cancer Stricken Woman Foils Robbery
OAKLAND PARK (CBS4) - A woman fighting cancer decided to take on another foe on Friday, a would-be bank robber.
Helen Dunsford was in line at the Bank of America on Prospect Road in Oakland Park around 11:45 am, when a woman walked in and demanded thousands of dollars. The would-be thief, whose name has not been released by authorities, indicated that she had a gun.
Dunsford put the woman in a bear-hug and with the help of at least one customer, put the woman on the ground until Broward Sheriff's deputies arrived.
"She got on my last nerve," Dunsford told reporters. "I have cancer, stage 4, and I figured if I'm gonna die, it's God's will when I die. She's not gonna shoot me."
Customer Aron Lassin rushed to help Dunsford.
"This lady, I call her grandma, she actually came in and saved our life," Lassin said. "She is a brave old lady, I mean. I appreciate the help because if it wasn't for her, we would have never had the strength to grab the robber and take her down on the ground."
The FBI arrested the woman and were questioning two men in connection with the crime.
One of the men who was handcuffed and sitting in the back of BSO car shouted to reporters that this was all a misunderstanding. He said the female would-be thief has mental problems and that there was no scheme to rob the bank.
"They arrest me for nothing," the unidentified man yelled. "I no have no gun. I never have a plan to steal money."
Customer Patrick Kaveney said the unidentified man rushed to assist the woman while she was being held on the ground in the bank.
"He goes, 'No, no she's sick. she's sick. I'm taking her to the clinic right now,' and they just held her down until the police got here," Kaveney said.
Kaveney also said the accused thief made an odd comment while she was being restrained.
"She said it was an April Fool's joke, she was only joking," Kaveney said. "But I'm like, that's no joke. Not in a bank. You don't do that."
While customers called Dunsford a hero, an FBI spokesperson was more tepid in describing her actions.
"We need people to be good witnesses and not to get involved in confrontations, especially armed bank robberies or people who say they're armed in bank robberies," FBI Special Agent Michael Leverock said.
