Police: Green purse ties woman to multiple NJ bank robberies

HAMILTON TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- A suspected serial bank robber is under arrest thanks to one of her distinctive accessories.

Josephine Sari, 42, of Chesterfield, was seen in surveillance video clutching her bright green purse as she attempted to hold up a bank last week, police say.

That colorful handbag gives new meaning to the phrase "accessory to a crime."

"We did not recover any money at this time, but we did recover obviously the pocketbook she was carrying, that green pocketbook," said Capt. James Stevens.

He says that purse made her stick out like a sore thumb.

Sari allegedly robbed three banks last week: The TD Bank on Whitehorse-Hamilton road in Hamilton Township, and another TD Bank on Quakerbridge Road. She's also accused of robbing a Wells Fargo in Willingboro.

Police flooded social media with surveillance photos, got a number of tips and quickly made an arrest.

Before Josephine Sari allegedly began hitting banks, she apparently also tried to hold up the Quick Shoppe in Willingboro on Beverly-Rancocas Road.

The store owner, Rakesh Patel, said she was holding a screwdriver when she demanded money,

He says he asked her why she wanted the money, and says she told him it was because her daughter is sick.

Female bank robbers are unusual. The FBI tells Action News that just five of the 115 bank heists in New Jersey last year were committed by women.

Sari is being held on $200,000 cash bail.