Update: Suspected Bank Robber Charged

David Michael Tyler put on a fake beard and dark-tinted glasses Saturday morning walked into US Bank, set a black briefcase down on a desk—and passed an employee a note stating: "It's going to be a real good day or a real bad day," according to felony charges filed Monday in Washington County District Court.

Then he allegedly opened the briefcase, and revealed a note that read: "enough explosives to level the entire block."

Tyler, 55, of Cheboygan, Michigan, told police he is a “career criminal” who owes $90,000 in child-support payments and "felt he had no option but to rob a bank."

On Monday, Tyler was charged by the Washington County Attorney’s Office with second-degree aggravated robbery in connection with Saturday’s incident that prompted the closure of a two-block radius around the bank.

Tyler, in a note he allegedly wrote last week at the Cheboygan Area Public Library, demanded $200,000 in cash.

After showing what Tyler purported to be a bomb, he allegedly told bank employees to stuff a backpack full of money.

Before fleeing the scene on foot, Tyler pushed a button on his cell phone and told the bank employees he had just activated the bomb, the complaint states, and it will detonate in 10 minutes.

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.

According to the complaint, Tyler had been plotting to rob a Stillwater bank for about a week.

Tyler told police he made the fake bomb at his apartment in Michigan, and then drove to Duluth, but he couldn’t find a promising target, so he went back to the drawing board.

"He then put his finger on an atlas and landed on Forest Lake,” the complaint states.

So Tyler drove to Forest Lake, but once again he “could not find a bank he was comfortable with," the complaint states. On June 2, Tyler reportedly checked into the Super 8 just off of Highway 36 and began scouting banks, the complaint states. During that week, he also bought a beard-and-mustache kit.

The night before the attempted bank robbery, Tyler got a room at the Lowell Inn.

Tyler told police he has served time for bank robbery and kidnapping incidents during the mid-1970s. He was released from prison in 1995.

The incident remains under investigation by Stillwater Police and the FBI.

Original Post:

The man who caused quite the commotion in downtown Stillwater Saturday morning will likely be charged with two felonies this week by the Washington County Attorney’s Office. 

David Michael Tyler, 55, of Cheboygan, Mich., was arrested Saturday morning after he allegedly attempted to rob US Bank, and then made a bomb threat—causing the closure of several downtown roads and businesses. 

Tyler stayed at the Lowell Inn on Friday night, walked into US Bank at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday and handed a bank employee a note, Stillwater Police Chief John Gannaway said. Tyler allegedly left a black briefcase in the bank and fled on foot.

According to a news release from the Stillwater Police Department:

Police Department responded to a report of a ‘hold-up’ alarm at the US Bank in downtown Stillwater.

Tyler entered US Bank, handed an employee a note, displayed a briefcase containing various components that resembled an explosive device and demanded money, Gannaway said. Tyler fled the bank after a few minutes, leaving the briefcase containing the device.

Tyler was taken into custody on Myrtle St. just west of Main St. next to his vehicle. Officers discovered that Tyler had left what he had described as an explosive device inside the bank.

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, "describing it as a realistic-looking improvised explosive device, the chief said. Officers then cleared Tyler’s vehicle.

Tyler was transported, booked, and being held at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Jail, with charges pending for aggravated robbery and terroristic threats.  Further investigation will be conducted by the FBI and the Stillwater Police Department.

Tyler is being held in the Washington County Jail pending charges of robbery and making terroristic threats.