The News Room [News Release]

Sheriff Contact: John Roach: 313-224-0615
Release Date: Thursday, April 28, 2005

Deputies catch "cheap date" bank robber

---	Suspect hit three banks for only $200, then went to $10 prostitute
---	Sheriff still looking for robber who struck Highland Park bank last week

As far as bank robbers go, he's a cheap date, according to Wayne County Sheriff's deputies. Earlier this week, officers arrested Laurye Mitchell, 26, of Detroit, after he held up the Charter One bank on Woodward Avenue in Highland Park for a mere $200. In fact, it was the third bank Mitchell is believed to have robbed for the same minimal sum in the past week, according to Sheriff Warren Evans. The other two robberies took place in Detroit.

Evans said that Mitchell entered Charter One at approximately 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday and handed the teller a note that read, "Give me $200. I have a gun." Mitchell is shown on bank surveillance images as having one hand in a jacket pocket, suggesting he had a weapon. When the teller gave Mitchell the money, Mitchell also asked for his note back. The teller complied.

According to witnesses, Mitchell exited the bank and got into a cab. When he did, an alert employee took down the number of the cab and reported it to sheriff's deputies. Officers were able to trace the cab to an address on Cortland Street in the city of Detroit. According to the home's owner, Mitchell came to the door and paid him $10 to "see a girl."

Officers went upstairs, where they found Mitchell with a woman who claimed Mitchell had hired for "for a date." Mitchell was taken out to the front porch of the home where he was positively identified by the cab driver. Deputies then placed Mitchell under arrest. At the time of his arrest, officers found no weapon and he had discarded the note.

Mitchell was arraigned today on charges of bank robbery and as a habitual offender. Mitchell was convicted in 2001 for taking money under false pretenses and receiving & concealing stolen property. Mitchell could face up to life in prison if convicted of the bank robbery charge, though he likely would receive less. Being a habitual offender automatically would add 50 percent to however many years the judge sentences him. Mitchell is being held at the Wayne County jail. He still faces charges in the two Detroit robberies.

Evans said that he is still seeking the public's assistance finding the man who robbed the same Charter One bank a week ago today. He is described as a black male in his late 40s or early 50s, about six feet tall with a slender build and glasses with thick black rims. He also has a goatee with a touch of gray hair.

"We've already caught two of the three bank robbers that have hit Highland Park recently and we'd live very much to catch the third," Evans said.

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