Click the play button on the video window to the see the storyPHOENIX -- Cynthia Roberson has been behind bars for only three days but her accused crimes are so troubling, police are already comparing her to one of the country's most infamous criminals.
"It's disgusting to all of us," said Phoenix Sgt. Phil Roberts. "That's why we are going as strong with the prosecution as we could."
Roberson was arrested Friday night in a Phoenix apartment near 7th Street and Bell Road.
The 51-year-old is accused of leading a group of seven people, including several teens and her two young sons, in a violent armed-robbery spree reaching across the Northwest Valley.
"It's not just disgusting, it's revolting," Roberts said.
Detectives are calling it the "Ma Barker" case.
It's named after "Ma" Karen Barker, a mother who, in the 1920s and 30s, helped her gangster sons commit bank heists across the country.
The resemblance is striking to Roberson's case.
In her gold Chevrolet HHR, police said she would drive the group around on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights looking for easy targets -- usually other teens.
The group would then rush out of the vehicle and "street jump" the victims, often beating them at gunpoint and robbing them of everything in their possession.
Police believe the group is responsible for at least 20 robberies since early May in northwest Phoenix and Glendale.
However, detectives are still working to identify more victims.
What's police say is even more disturbing is Roberson's motive and method.
Detectives said she lost her job in April and was using the robberies as her sole source of income.
She apparently used her financial situation to convince the teens to help her commit the crimes.
"She was making them feel guilty," Glendale Detective Mark Langford said, "about the bills she had to pay and things she had to do to provide."
"She put them on a guilt trip," he said.
Roberson also coached the teens about how to rob the victims and what to take, police said.
In one robbery, a police statement shows that the group singled out a 13-year-old victim and beat him until he emptied his pockets.
The boy had only an "orange lollipop," which they took and fled.
ABC15 is not releasing the name of four members involved in the armed robbery ring because they are minors. Their ages range from 12 to 16.
However, three other adult suspects were arrested: Jorge Elias, 18; Tony Vaughn, 20; and Jason Moore, 30.
All the adults face several armed robbery charges.
But Roberson's rap sheet is longer, and police have also charged her with several counts of child abuse and conspiracy.
Police busted the robbery ring after catching two of the teens about a week ago. During the interviews, they told detectives about Roberson's role and the crimes.
All seven members of the armed-robbery ring have lived with Roberson.
After serving a search warrant on the home, officers found a sawed off shotgun, two air guns, a submachine gun, and several stolen items from the reported robberies.
