Police investigate string of bank robberies in Washtenaw, Jackson counties

By Cindy Heflin Associate news director

Posted on Mon, Jul 2, 2012 : 2:13 p.m.

This Flagstar Bank branch on Commonwealth Boulevard in Ann Arbor was robbed Saturday.

The robbery of a Flagstar Bank branch in Ann Arbor Saturday may be connected to a string of bank robberies in Washtenaw and Jackson counties beginning more than a year ago, Ann Arbor police said Monday.

Meanwhile, Flagstar Bank is offering a $2,500 reward to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects in Saturday’s robbery.

A surveillance camera captured this image of suspects at the Flagstar Bank.

Photo courtesy Ann Arbor police

Ann Arbor Police Det. Bill Stanford said four people wearing masks entered the Flagstar Bank at 2001 Commonwealth Blvd. about 10:40 a.m. They implied they had a weapon but did not show one. Three of them jumped the counter to steal money, Stanford said.

They fled with an undisclosed amount of money in a vehicle. Information about the vehicle and descriptions of the men were not available. No customers were in the bank at the time of the robbery, he said.

The string of at least seven other robberies police believe are connected includes several in which masked men jumped the counter to steal money. In one robbery, at the TCF Bank at Hewitt and Packard roads in Ypsilanti Township last year, a security camera captured a clear picture of a man in a white mask, similar to a Jason “Friday the 13th” mask, jumping the counter.

The robberies include the May 25 robbery of a TCF Bank in Saline that put schools on lockdown while police searched for the suspects.

The robberies police believe are related occurred at:

Anyone with information on the Ann Arbor robbery can call Det. Bill Stanford at (734) 794-6930, ext. 49318, or the AAPD confidential tip line at (734) 794-6939.

Ann Arbor police provided the surveillance camera images in the slideshow below: