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Mary Jane Adolphus, a former officer of the Florida prison system, was arrested on Thursday for armed robbery of a PNC bank in Port St. Lucie, a city located in St. Lucie County, almost a year after committing the crime.
According to Police Chief Leo Niemczyk, the robbery occurred on June 6, 2025, at the branch located at 1306 SW Gatlin Boulevard.
Adolphus, 47 years old, entered the bank, placed his bag on the counter, and handed a note to the teller demanding money while claiming to be armed. He fled on foot with approximately $2,000.
The weapon he displayed turned out to be a pellet gun, not a real firearm, although under Florida law, that is sufficient to support charges of armed robbery if the victim perceived a credible threat.
According to the report from Telemundo 51, the investigation became complicated from the start because detectives received leads about multiple suspects.
With the support of the FBI, the authorities managed to narrow down the investigation to identify Adolphus, who traveled to Jamaica several times after the robbery and then attempted to flee to the Dominican Republic.
She was intercepted at Miami International Airport while trying to leave the country again and was transported back to Port St. Lucie to face charges of armed robbery and grand theft.
Niemczyk revealed that investigators recovered the pellet gun used in the robbery and obtained a confession from the accused.
Regarding motivation, the officer was straightforward: "It seems that the motivation was the rent; at the end of the day, I needed money to pay the rent."
Adolphus worked as a state correctional officer for about five years, but their employment ended in 2023, the same year the last bank robbery on the outskirts of the city was recorded, according to Niemczyk.
The police chief described this type of crime as a losing bet: "It is a high-risk crime with low rewards; they usually leave with just a few thousand dollars and are caught quickly, typically within a couple of months."
Regarding the delay in this specific case, Niemczyk explained: "This case took a bit longer because we had numerous individuals present as suspects, and it was difficult to pinpoint her, but it is a very reckless crime."
The case is reminiscent of a former bank employee accused of stealing half a million dollars in Florida, and also that of a man who stole a fortune in Miami to give away on TikTok, cases that reflect a pattern of financial crimes in South Florida with diverse motivations.
This Friday, in his first court appearance, a judge set Adolphus's bail at $55,000 and ordered the surrender of his passport, citing the documented flight risk in the case file.
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