Anaheim woman arrested, accused of robbing Garden Grove bank at gunpoint with toy Uzi

A 55-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday, a little more than an hour after she allegedly robbed a Farmers & Merchants Bank branch in Garden Grove with a toy gun resembling an Uzi.

Mary Lynn Taber of Anaheim was also booked on suspicion of robbing a U.S. Bank branch at 12112 Valley View St. on Jan. 8, 2014, according to Garden Grove police Sgt. Ron Echavarria.

The Farmers & Merchants branch at 10422 Garden Grove Blvd. was robbed just before 11 this morning. Witnesses told police the suspect appeared to be in her 40s, 5-foot-2 and about 250 pounds, sporting a pink scarf and dark sunglasses.

One witness jotted down the license plate number of her 1998 black four- door Saturn, which led to Taber’s arrest just after noon, Echavarria said.

She allegedly fled the bank with about $500 in cash, then went to a bank near her home and deposited some of the money in her account and made a loan payment, Echavarria said.

The gun she allegedly used in the heist turned out to be a toy, possibly based on “Star Trek,” that was painted black, Echavarria said.

Investigators linked her to the Jan. 8, 2014, holdup based on the weapon and “her unique disguise,” Echevarria said.

In the earlier robbery — which was done about the same time of day at a bank a few doors down from a police substation — the suspect made off with about $3,000, Echavarria said.

— Wire reports