Trial rescheduled for accused robber

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A trial has been rescheduled for a Michigan man facing bank robbery charges after allegedly robbing a Lewis Center Bank and several banks in Michigan in 2016.

Todd Raymond Keith, 41, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, was arrested Oct. 8 in Aberdeen, Ohio, and charged with robbery after authorities said he was responsible for the robbery of the Delaware County Bank branch on Oct. 7.

Court documents indicate the case was initially brought to Ohio District Court but because Keith’s crime spree originated in Michigan it was transferred to the Eastern District Court of Michigan.

Federal court documents indicate that Keith was indicted on Nov. 1 and charged with bank robbery, carjacking and two charges of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Keith entered a not guilty plea to the charges and was scheduled stand trial on Jan. 3. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara will preside over the case.

However, the trial was rescheduled to April 4 after Keith’s defense counsel asked for more time to review the “voluminous” discovery in the case.

According to the criminal complaint filed by the FBI, Keith’s crime spree began on Sept. 30 in Van Buren Township, Michigan. According to the document, a home in the township was burglarized around 10 a.m. and several items were stolen including two shotguns, one of which was equipped with a scope. Later that day, an man brandishing a shotgun with a scope entered a Chase Bank in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, and announced he was robbing the bank.

The FBI reports that he fired two shots in the bank and hit the wall behind a teller window and a glass office window. He demanded money from the teller and got $1,700 from the employee before leaving the bank and driving away in a dark colored sedan.

Then, on Oct. 3 a man wearing a Halloween mask entered the Key Bank in Augusta Township, Michigan, with a shotgun and announced he was robbing the bank. He threatened to kill employees if they resisted. The teller then removed the tracker from the money and the man left the bank with approximately $8,000 in cash. The man then drove away in a silver Dodge Journey.

The FBI report that they spoke to the registered owner of the Dodge, a woman named Amanda Reyes, and learned that Reyes was a former girlfriend of Keith and had a child with him. Reyes told the FBI that Keith had borrowed her Dodge on Oct. 3 and said he visited several times and saw him in the basement and garage of her home.

The FBI searched Reyes’ home and found one of the shotguns stolen from the Van Buren Township home, the basket used to carry the money from the Oct. 3 robbery and a store tag for the Halloween mask used in the Oct. 3 robbery.

On Oct. 7, deputies from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office reported that he entered the DCB bank located at 34 Evergreen Lane in Lewis Center, fired several shots and demanded money from the teller. No one was injured and Keith fled the scene in a dark sedan.

Keith is also a suspect in a pair of hotel robberies on Oct. 6 in Livonia, Michigan, as well as an armed robbery in Tiffin on Oct. 7. Court documents state the indictment only covers the robbery committed on Oct. 3 and an armed carjacking on Oct. 6

Keith was in federal custody Wednesday.

Todd Keith
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2017/01/web1_keith-todd-1-.jpgTodd Keith

By Glenn Battishill

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Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903 or on Twitter @BattishillDG.

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