A Marietta woman accused of strapping a fake bomb to her chest and robbing a bank Tuesday told police she hatched the plan because she needed money to pay bills, according to investigators.

Kim L. Funk, 52, of 326 Rivermoor Drive, allegedly entered Metro Bank, 23 Rohrerstown Road, shortly before 8:30 a.m.

After talking with a loan manager, she allegedly told the employee that she had strapped a bomb to herself and said that it would explode if she wasn't given the money she demanded, according to a criminal complaint.

The loan manager gave Funk a bag of money, but Funk left the bank without it, East Hempfield Township police said.

She was arrested a short time after the robbery.

Police charged her with robbery and facsimile weapons of mass destruction, both felonies.

She was arraigned by District Judge Brian Chudzik and committed to Lancaster County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Funk later was interviewed by East Hempfield Township police Detective Christopher Chase and John C. Solanto, a special agent with the FBI.

She told them she expected to be evicted from her home Tuesday at 9 a.m. because she was $3,000 behind in rent, according to the complaint.

She told investigators she had been unemployed for the past month and robbed the bank because she wanted money to pay her bills, according to court papers.

Funk admitted to authorities that she bought supplies to make a device that resembled a bomb, strapped it to herself using a back brace and drove to the bank.

Once she received the money from the loan manager, Funk told police, she had second thoughts about taking the cash and thought she wouldn't be in as much trouble if she left it behind.

Funk exited the bank, leaving the bag of cash on the loan manager's desk, police said.

When law-enforcement officials confronted Funk outside the bank, they instructed her to place the apparent explosive device on the ground and took her into custody.

Police secured a perimeter around the device and called in the state police hazardous device and explosives unit, which determined the device was not a bomb.

Traffic was detoured around the area for about two hours.
jtodd@lnpnews.com