By ED JOHNSON
ASBURY PARK PRESS

RED BANK — A Tinton Falls woman, already charged with robbery, has now been accused of pretending to be an immigration officer.

For Maria Collins, 41, it's the latest criminal charge to be lodged against her as she sits in the Monmouth County Jail. Her bail is now set at $100,000, jail records show.

Middletown police Sgt. John Kaiser had charged her with fraudulently obtaining prescription drugs only hours before Red Bank police arrested her in connection with Saturday's armed robbery of a woman at Chestnut Street and Bridge Avenue, Red Bank Detective Capt. Stephen McCarthy said.

Collins' physical description and that of the vehicle she was driving then attracted the attention of Sgt. Michael Frazee, who had been investigating who the phony immigration officer was, McCarthy said.

Police said they suspect the immigration scam was a prelude to robbery.

Two women, both Hispanic, had told police that Collins approached them on separate occasions last month and identified herself as an immigration officer. In each case the women said she ordered them into her car, saying they were to be deported, McCarthy said.

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