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A bank robber who authorities say is Eddie Flint, of Troy, seen here in surveillance footage from Royal Oak, reportedly fled to Las Vegas, but local police departments and the FBI were able to have him taken into custody when he arrived in Nevada.
File security footage provided by the Royal Oak Police Department
Troy resident Eddie Flint, 29, was arrested for allegedly committing four bank robberies in the cities of Troy, Royal Oak and Berkley. The image here is from the Oct. 3 Berkley robbery.
Security footage provided by the Berkley Public Safety Department
OAKLAND COUNTY — A suspect has been charged in connection with four bank robberies in Oakland County after being arrested in Las Vegas.
Local authorities identified the suspect as 29-year-old Troy resident Eddie Flint. Flint is alleged to have committed four robberies in the cities of Troy, Royal Oak and Berkley.
The robberies occurred at the Huntington Bank at 2301 W. Big Beaver Road in Troy at 9:37 a.m. Sept. 20; the Chase Bank at 2155 W. Big Beaver Road in Troy at noon Sept. 24; the Huntington Bank at 4609 Crooks Road in Royal Oak at 4:41 p.m. Sept. 27; and the Vibe Credit Union at 3082 Coolidge Highway in Berkley at 4:35 p.m. Oct. 3.
“In all four robberies, the suspect wore a mask covering his face and implied having a weapon,” the Troy Police Department stated in a press release. “Detectives from Berkley Department of Public Safety, Royal Oak Police Department, and Troy Police Department worked together to identify Flint as a suspect in these robberies.”
Royal Oak Police Criminal Investigation Division Lt. Al Carter confirmed that the three jurisdictions worked together to identify Flint. During the robbery in Royal Oak Sept. 27, Flint allegedly wore clothing and a mask that matched the clothing and mask observed during the Troy robberies.
Security camera footage in the Royal Oak robbery allegedly showed Flint with his hand in his jacket pocket pointed at the teller in a way to suggest he was holding a gun.
“Once the clerk opened up the cash drawer, he reached over the counter and was able to grab a large amount of cash at that point, and then exited very quickly,” Carter said. “There was another customer being helped in the bank establishment at the time, but luckily, again, no one was harmed or injured.”
Because Troy and Royal Oak had a week or two to investigate their cases before Berkley’s happened, Berkley Public Safety Detective Lt. Andrew Hadfield said Berkley investigators were able to use the other departments’ suspect information to find similarities in the robberies.
“We started to meet together to see what we had and were able to identify (Flint) as being a person of interest,” said Hadfield. “At that point, between Troy and the FBI, we were able to basically identify him as a suspect in the case. And we presented the case to the prosecutor for charges for the robberies in the three cities.”
According to a press release, on Oct. 6, Flint purchased a one-way plane ticket from Detroit Metro Airport to Las Vegas, and the Michigan agencies contacted the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and arranged to have Flint arrested once his plane landed at Harry Reid International Airport.
“He was able to board a plane and head to Vegas. We had that information and we coordinated with the police department there to meet Mr. Flint when he arrived, and (he) was safely taken into custody and brought back,” Carter said. “He had to be extradited from Las Vegas. So that delayed it perhaps about a week, or a week before he could come back from Las Vegas to Michigan to start our process of arraignments.”
Flint was charged on Oct. 21 in Troy with two counts of armed robbery and bank robbery. He was arraigned in the 52-4 District Court the same day and issued a $2 million cash bond in relation to the two Troy robberies.
“(The) Troy Police Department would like to acknowledge the coordinated efforts by all agencies involved, along with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in bringing this case to a close,” the department stated in its press release.
Troy police declined to comment further regarding additional details of the case.
Flint’s next scheduled court date in Troy is a probable cause conference in 52-4 District Court at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3. As of Oct. 21, he had not retained or been assigned an attorney.
Flint was arraigned Oct. 24 in the 44th District Court for both the Berkley and Royal Oak robberies. In both cases, he was charged with one count each of bank robbery and armed robbery.
Hadfield stated Flint was given a $250,000 bond, no 10%, for each of the two robberies. Flint asked for a court-appointed attorney. The next date for Flint in both 44th District Court cases is 1:46 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, for a probable cause conference.
Call Staff Writer Mike Koury at (586) 498-1077 and Staff Writer Brendan Losinski at (586) 498-1068.
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