Mountain Brook woman charged in Vestavia holdups

VESTAVIA HILLS, Alabama 

Leasa S. Brock

A Mountain Brook woman is charged with first-degree robbery after two bank holdups in Vestavia Hills, police said today.
Leasa S. Brock, 47, is in the Jefferson County Jail. Her bond is set at $120,000.
She is charged in the Aug. 31 robbery at Iberia Bank, and the July 1 robbery at Wells Fargo.
Vestavia Hills detectives arrested Brock late last week.
Police spokesman Lt. Brian Gilham said that in both holdups, Brock went into the bank wearing scrubs and handed the teller a note demanding money. The note implied that she was being coerced into robbing the bank.
"There was some inference that she was being forced," Gilham said.
She didn't wear any disguise, or display a weapon.
Detectives are still investigating, and haven't released additional details.
Female bank robbers, Gilham said, aren't common.
FBI statistics show women make up a small number of suspects in bank crimes such as robbery, burglary and theft from banks. In 2010, women accounted for 7 percent of all bank crime suspects identified nationwide by the FBI.
"This definitely isn't typical," he said. "It's the times we live in I guess."
According to Brock's Facebook page, she attended UAB and is an art instructor and travel writer. She lives at an apartment complex in Mountain Brook's English Village. Just this month, she added Clint Eastwood to her Facebook list of people who inspire her.