Bank robbery suspect arrested after fleeing on AATA bus
An unmarked police car sits outside the TCF Bank branch on Briarwood Circle in Ann Arbor. A man robbed the bank this morning but was apprehended in Ypsilanti after fleeing on an AATA bus.
Angela Cesere | AnnArbor.com
A man walked into the TCF Bank at 125 Briarwood Circle about 10 this morning and demanded money, Ann Arbor police Sgt. Pat Hughes said. A teller gave him an undisclosed amount of money, and he left the bank on foot, Hughes said. Reports indicated the man got on an AATA bus headed for Ypsilanti, Hughes said.
The suspect, a 30-year-old man from Ypsilanti, got off the bus in the area of Hawkins and Franklin Streets and was arrested by Ypsilanti Police Department officers, Hughes said. The money the man had taken from the bank was recovered at the scene, Hughes said.
Hughes said it is Ann Arbor police policy to not release the amount of money stolen in bank robberies.
It is not believed that the man had a weapon on him during the robbery, Hughes said.
Police were dispatched to the bank just after 10:05 a.m., Hughes said. Investigators were still at the bank as of 12:45 p.m. Monday, he said.
The name of the arrested man will not be released until he is arraigned at the Washtenaw County Jail.
Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush, the department's spokesperson, said there was no weapon seen or implied by the suspect when he approached the teller.
Det. Sgt. Troy Fulton, of the Ypsilanti Police Department, said the man ran away from police for a few minutes before he was apprehended on Hawkins Street between Hill Street and Franklin Street. Undercover officers located the man and told him to get on the ground, which the man did without incident.
Fulton said he didn't want to comment further on the incident because he did not want to cause any problems with the Ann Arbor police's investigation.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
15crown00
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 6:01 p.m.
this guy must be a true genius.i never heard of anything so outrageous.
leaguebus
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 5:37 p.m.
Lucky for the other passengers that they didn't slip a dye packet in the loot.
UlyssesSwrong
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 5:23 p.m.
I'm sure the robber also asked for a few rolls of bus tokens.
Jim Karnopp
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 3:12 p.m.
Having been a TCF customer who had checks stolen out of my house and cashed at the TCF branch for over 8000 dollars and having the bank refuse to give me my money back, I actually saw this article and was hoping the burglar would have got away in this case.
Cel J
Wed, Dec 7, 2011 : 3:29 a.m.
Send a complaint to the Michigan Attorney General and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: <a href="http://www.occ.treas.gov/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.occ.treas.gov/</a>.
Jim Karnopp
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 8 p.m.
Their argument was that since my checks were not in a secure location, they weren't liable for the forged checks. The checks were stolen out of a desk drawer in my house by a burglar, my signature was forged and looked nothing like my signature, but they were able to cash them at the branch where my signature cards were located. All this happened at Christmas time and they refused to put the money back in my account. Since they gave my money away, I wasn't able to pay my mortgage, and they actually started foreclosure on my house. I would never recommend doing business with TCF, they are an extremely unethical company. Unfortunately the laws in this country favor the financial institutions no matter how bad they are.
Hmm
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 3:33 p.m.
They refused to refund you the money? That doesn't sound right. I had some illegal activity on my account and after going through the process they refunded me in full in about one week. If there is real fraud, I have found TCF to be fair and equitable in returning the pilfered money
Bryan Briegel
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 6:22 a.m.
He got Bus - ted!!
YpsiLivin
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 3:41 a.m.
I wouldn't want my last act as a free person to be riding the AATA bus. Butch Cassidy never would have gone out this way.
10dz
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 3:34 a.m.
i hope he had the correct change! AATA drivers can be picky.
Some Guy in 734
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 3:56 p.m.
Not at all. Change is returned on a magnetic-stripe card.
kitten
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 3:09 a.m.
While everyone here is cracking jokes about the suspect, let's show some compassion to the tellers who had to endure the terror of being robbed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Billy Bob Schwartz
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 2:50 a.m.
This is a riot. I thought that maybe the robber had made a deal on a used car and was taking the bus to the car lot to pay for it.
Bob
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 2:34 a.m.
It's a touh economy; even bank robbers have to be economical!
TownieR
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 2:13 a.m.
I've used the bus for many things, just never crimes.
Sallyxyz
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 12:18 a.m.
"The name of the arrested man will not be released until he is arraigned at the Washtenaw County Jail." Once he is arraigned, let's have a photo of the perp. It's part of the process and part of responsible journalism.
Jim Pryce
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 12:06 a.m.
Maybe he sold his getaway car for gas money?
a2phiggy
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 11:43 p.m.
I am astounded at the number of bank robberies recently - and frankly, I'm terrified to do anything that requires going into a branch. A2.com, is there a trend in increasing robberies, or just more thorough news coverage of them?
Daniel Soebbing
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 2:25 a.m.
Have any bank customers actually been assaulted or robbed during the robberies? Seems like it has just been people taking money from the banks.
MMM
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 11:13 p.m.
What a proud day for AATA. Do you think bank robbers in Detroit count on the Detroit city buses? I don't think so. Here in Ann Arbor the robbers know that the bus will be on time so they can plan around that.
Tesla
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 10:30 p.m.
Lol Funny stuff. This.
Robbo
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 10:14 p.m.
Bwah-ha-ha--ha--ha-ha--ha--ha—ha! What a maroon!
Wolf's Bane
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 9:29 p.m.
Crime is way, way, way down according to this month's Ann Arbor Observer! I guess, its time for the A2 Observer and what's left of the AAPD to eat some humble pie huh?
Daniel Soebbing
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 2:23 a.m.
The police caught him. What's the problem?
halflight
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 9:26 p.m.
I say that AATA should include this winner's testimonial on one of the shelters at Blake Transit: "I trust the AATA with all my transportation needs!" John Smith, bank withdrawal specialist
Seasoned Cit
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 9:25 p.m.
He was just after bus fare and and the teller thought he wanted a new account and gave him more. If he had waited he might have received an ipod.
Go Blue
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 9:01 p.m.
This can only go under the heading of.....DUH
Are you serious?
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 8:53 p.m.
Do you suppose the police were posted at all of the bus stops between AA and Ypsi? I wonder if the bus stopped when it saw him "approaching a cross walk?"
Tru2Blu76
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 8:48 p.m.
"If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you." -- guess what this guy's answer will be. Looks like this fellow decided to make a career move, only someone forgot to tell him that the procedures for shop lifting and bank robbing are markedly different.
Hmm
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 8:25 p.m.
Well if his intentions were to get some free room and board paid for by the taxpayers then his plan worked out great!
Elaine F. Owsley
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 8:23 p.m.
What fun!! This would make a great segment in a movie, but no one would believe it.
Halter
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 8:10 p.m.
Glad all ended okay. That branch is a training branch and has a group of really nice young folks working there as tellers. Glad it ended up okay.
xmo
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 6:43 p.m.
I guess that this is a good reason to shut down the AATA, helping criminals escape from a crime scene?
Joe_Citizen
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 6:25 p.m.
That's the loudest "unmarked" cop car I have ever saw. I would have never thought of using mas-transit for a get away vehicle. UNBELIEVABLE!!!, don't you think? I can't stop laughing. I can see it now,"Hurry up and fill the bag, the bus is going to be here soon", hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Hmm
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 8:26 p.m.
Hahaha
smokeblwr
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 6:03 p.m.
I wonder if he will be charged a fee for making a withdrawal inside the bank with a teller?
a2why
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 5:59 p.m.
Good point, jrigglem. Maybe he's a panhandler and told the teller a story about how his car broke down...
SonnyDog09
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 5:59 p.m.
I expect to see the bank surveillance video followed by a mug shot on an episode of "World's Dumbest" in the near future.
David Briegel
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 5:57 p.m.
Does that make the bus driver an accomplice?
jrigglem
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 5:55 p.m.
Well whatever amount that was stolen you can be sure that it's two dollars (I rounded up) short since they had to pay the fare to ride the bus...lol
jrigglem
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 7:19 p.m.
It would murph, I'm just assuming he had some singles and no loose change
murph
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 6:59 p.m.
It would be awkward to have to ask the teller to make change for bus fare after you've just robbed them...
Ricebrnr
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 5:46 p.m.
Hello??? You planned on robbing a bank, you shoulda planned on taking a cab, duh!
mun
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 5:32 p.m.
I guess this guy will be on True TV's "World's Dumbest Criminals."
a2why
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 5:08 p.m.
"It was not clear whether a weapon was involved." Could you say he used a weapon of mass transportation?
omniskeptic
Wed, Dec 7, 2011 : 7:58 p.m.
I wish I'd said that.
Wolf's Bane
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 9:30 p.m.
Actually bringing a weapon onto a bus is a felony. Just an FYI.
a2why
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 4:58 p.m.
Our city is so green, even our bank robbers use mass transportation. Greenest Cities list, here we come!
justcurious
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 5:46 p.m.
This is hilarious! Thanks.
Kurt
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 4:57 p.m.
The getaway vehicle was an AATA bus??
David Briegel
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 5:58 p.m.
Does that make the bus driver an accomplice?
tommy_t
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 4:52 p.m.
That ought'a be good for 20yrs. or 1 yr. probation.
Doug
Tue, Dec 6, 2011 : 6:50 p.m.
He'll get a slap on the wrist and be sent on his way to rob again.
63Townie
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 : 4:47 p.m.
Maybe the robber was after $700 for a Sugar Glider.