(WWJ) – Two people from the Cleveland area believed to have robbed at least three banks in Southeast Michigan – and at least a dozen other banks in four other states – are behind bars after being arrested in Eastern Ohio.
Officials with the Monroe City Police Department and Monroe County Sheriff’s Office reached out to the FBI to form a multi-jurisdictional team to investigate after a string of robberies in the Monroe area over a two-week stretch in May.
The sheriff’s office says the suspects had similar methods of operation when three banks in Monroe were robbed – the PNC Bank at 202 N. Monroe St. on May 12, the First Merchants Bank in Monroe Township on May 18 and the PNC Bank at 465 N. Telegraph Rd. on May 24.
After the May 18 robbery, authorities said the suspect was on the run in a black Nissan SUV. Following the next Monroe robbery, police said they believed the two were connected.
As investigators were working with the FBI, they learned of numerous other bank robberies that matched the M.O. of the Monroe County robberies.
At the time, investigators believed the bank robbery crew had hit banks in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Indiana.
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After a weeks-long investigation, the sheriff’s office says investigators were able to pinpoint an area where they thought the crew would strike next.
On Tuesday, working with the FBI and police in Ohio, law enforcement authorities arrested two suspects in Guernsey County, Ohio, after they committed what investigators believe was their 15th bank robbery in five states.
But their arrest didn’t come easy. The suspects led law enforcement on a 50-mile, high-speed chase through multiple jurisdictions in Eastern Ohio before they crashed and were arrested.
The suspects are from the greater Cleveland area and are being held in the Guernsey County Jail.
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Authorities have not yet released their identities, pending formal charges and arraignment.
Police had released photos of one of the suspects in the Monroe robberies, at the time describing him as a Black male, approximately 6'0” tall with a thin build. Photos released from the two most recent robberies appear to be the same man. No information is known about the other person arrested in Ohio on Tuesday.
Police in Michigan, Ohio and the FBI are still investigating the string of bank robberies. The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information to call the Monroe County Sheriff's Office Detective Bureau at 734-240-7530.
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