A Grand Junction bank teller admitted to embezzling more than $24,000 in the past year to cover “essential” living expenses, such as food, utilities, insurance, vehicle repairs and help for her daughter, according to an arrest affidavit.

Diane Marlene Blaylock, 57, who worked for Coloramo Federal Credit Union, 759 Horizon Drive, appeared in court Wednesday out of custody on a $10,000 bond on suspicion of a felony charge of theft.

Blaylock was arrested on a warrant Tuesday by the Grand Junction Police Department.

According to the affidavit, Blaylock, who worked at the bank for the past five years, began taking between $50 and $100 — and eventually up to $1,000 — at a time from her cash drawer a few times per month since November 2007. Blaylock told police she kept close records on the amounts she took by writing the amount as a fictitious phone number on her desk calendar, the affidavit said.

Blaylock told police she knew the exact amount she had stolen, $24,600, which audits confirmed, the affidavit said. Further audits showed that Blaylock temporarily removed $47,590 from four customers’ accounts to cover the cash withdrawals, the affidavit said.

“Diane stated that her balance of monies she stole began to exceed $10,000, which caused her much distress because of the teller drawer limit being that amount,” the affidavit said.

Blaylock told police she took on duties of balancing the tellers’ cash drawers to avoid detection, but Blaylock admitted the theft to her superiors after a manager noticed the discrepancies on Nov. 6, the affidavit said.

During her confession that day to bank officials, medical personnel were called when Blaylock became hysterical and had difficulty breathing, the affidavit said. Blaylock was checked out by emergency workers and was deemed OK, the affidavit said.

“(Blaylock) stated that she knew what she did was wrong, that things had gotten out of hand and that she felt very badly for her actions,” the affidavit said.

Blaylock appears next in court Dec. 5 for formal filing of charges.

Email AMY HAMILTON