Woman accused of killing mother, robbing bank faces judge

McKEESPORT, Pa. — A woman facing multiple charges after police said she robbed a McKeesport bank last week and fled the scene with a 2-year-old in her getaway car faced a judge Monday.

According to police, 25-year-old Sarah Vercauteren first tried to rob the Subway restaurant in the Olympia Shopping Center on Walnut Street on Jan. 7.

The store’s manager was unable to open the register, and Vercauteren eventually left with nothing, police said.

As police were at the Subway investigating, officers said they got a call that the PNC Bank across the parking lot had just been robbed.

Investigators said Vercauteren passed a note to the teller demanding $20 bills. The note also said she had a gun and threatened “no sudden movement,” according to the charges.

Authorities said Vercauteren got away with $320 from the bank and was hiding the cash in her underwear when her car was spotted nearby. She confessed to everything, police said.

Vercauteren’s 2-year-old son, who was in the back seat during the entire incident, was not injured.

On Monday, Vercauteren waived her right to a preliminary hearing. Her formal arraignment is scheduled for March 6.

Vercauteren was also charged last week with her mother’s murder. Investigators said Vercauteren is accused of hitting her mother in the head with a hammer more than a dozen times before strangling her in the bathroom of her Salem Township home.

Police said the violent attack on 51-year-old Dawn Wagner began after she refused to allow Vercauteren to borrow her car on New Year’s Eve.

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