Woman denies attempted gas station robbery

A Rutland woman accused of trying to rob a gas station in April allegedly told investigators she did it to avoid losing her home.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150604/NEWS01/706049961

Woman denies attempted gas station robbery By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT | June 04,2015 WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Rutland woman accused of trying to rob a gas station in April allegedly told investigators she did it to avoid losing her home. Diana Turgeon, 38, pleaded innocent to a felony count of attempted assault and robbery in the April 6 incident at the Irving station in North Springfield. Detective Patrick Call wrote in an affidavit that Lisa Marsh, the lone clerk on duty, was shaking as she told police that Turgeon was buying lottery scratch tickets and then ordered her twice to hand over “all the tens and twenties” in the cash register. Turgeon allegedly also said, “Don’t make me get my gun.” Marsh told police Turgeon didn’t appear to have a weapon, so Marsh told her to get out of the store. Turgeon fled on foot and was arrested minutes later on a sidewalk on Main Street in North Springfield, police said. At first, Call wrote, Turgeon decribed the robbery attempt as a joke that fell flat when the clerk “freaked out.” But Call said she eventually admitted she was “struggling financially and was on the verge of losing her home.” “(Turgeon) advised she was incurring medical issues, had depression issues, and her son had numerous medical issues, too, which caused her to quit her job and stay at home to care for him,” the detective said. Turgeon said she and her husband were four months behind on their $1,400 monthly mortgage payments and she needed to make it up. “(She) expressed this was not her and that she felt horrible (but) she did not want her children not to have a place to live,” the affidavit said. Turgeon told police she did not actually have a gun and the robbery attempt was a “spur of the moment” thing, police said. Turgeon, who has no prior criminal record, was released from court Tuesday. If convicted, she could face up to 11 years in prison. The incident was the second of three incidents at the same North Springfield gas station this year. The other two cases, involving men who took undisclosed amounts of money, remain unsolved.