Michigan Man Pleads Guilty to Stillwater Bank Robbery

The 56-year-old Michigan man who robbed U.S. Bank in downtown Stillwater last June pleaded guilty today in federal court to one count of armed bank robbery.

David Michael Tyler of Cheboygan, Michigan admitted that at about 9:30 a.m. on June 8, he walked into US Bank—wearing a fake beard and glasses and carrying a briefcase and backpack—put the briefcase on a banker’s desk and showed him what appeared to be a homemade bomb inside.

He then gave the banker a note—demanding $200,000—that read: "It's going to be a real good day or a real bad day,” according to police reports. That note went on to read, “enough explosives to level the entire block."

• Read about the Criminal Complaint

While the bank teller placed the money into Tyler’s backpack, Tyler admittedly pushed a button on his cell phone, warning the banker that he had 10 minutes before the bomb went off.

Tyler then grabbed the bag and fled, leaving the briefcase and purported bomb on the banker’s desk.

Police arrested Tyler while he was running to a truck he parked on Myrtle Street, just west of Main Street. He had $3,726 in his backpack.

All of the money was recovered.

When police learned that Tyler stayed at the Lowell Inn the night before the robbery, and that he had parked his vehicle down the block, police made the decision to evacuate a two-block radius around the bank and the St. Paul Police Bomb Squad was called to first clear the Lowell Inn, then remove the device in US Bank.

Police described the briefcase “as a realistic-looking improvised explosive device.”

Officers then cleared Tyler’s vehicle.

Tyler faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. Tyler’s sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.