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Southfield suspect charged in bank robbery, attacking employee
Blake Herring is charged with bank robbery, assault with intent to murder, and other charges after authorities said she robbed the PNC Bank on Telegraph last Tuesday, while wielding a hatcher. As it turns out, she wasn't the only person accused of committing a crime with a hatchet near 12 Mile. Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren spoke at length on Monday, six days after the bank robbery.
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - A Dearborn Heights woman is being held on a $2 million bond after Southfield Police said she's the one who robbed a bank last week with a hatchet – not a man as originally believed.
Blake Herring is charged with bank robbery, assault with intent to murder, and other charges after authorities said she robbed the PNC Bank on Telegraph last Tuesday, while wielding a hatcher. As it turns out, she wasn't the only person accused of committing a crime with a hatchet near 12 Mile.
Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren spoke at length on Monday, six days after the bank robbery.
Two crimes, two hatchets, ¼ mile away
What we know:
According to Barren, Southfield police were called to two different hatchet crimes, just 3 minutes apart, and both along 12 Mile.
The first call came in at 12:32 p.m. at The Lakes Apartments on 12 Mile, about halfway between Telegraphs and Northwestern Highway. The victims said a man with a hatchet pulled up to the apartments and threatened two workers with the tool.
Three minutes later, at 12:35 p.m., a similar call came in at the PNC Bank at 12 Mile and Northwestern regarding a bank robbery. In that crime, the suspect was carrying a hatchet as well, originally described by police as an ax.
In both calls, the suspect was described as a man in dark clothes who then left the scene in a gray car.
That same day, a 55-year-old man was arrested in Detroit, and originally identified as the bank robbery suspect.
It would take a confession of one suspect and 24 hours for police to realize the crimes were unrelated.
Barren said officers believed the cases were related when they took the 55-year-old suspect into custody.
"Interestingly, he admitted to committing the assault at the apartment, but denied any type of association with the bank robbery," Barren said.
Different crime, different suspect
The Southfield chief said the investigation into the bank robbery was still going when they realized it was a separate and unrelated crime.
"We were able to see the differences in build and acts," he said. "What are the odds of that? Having two individuals within three minutes of each other committing crimes with a hatchet."
Timeline:
Barren said authorities were able to determine Herring as the suspect in the case and tracked her movements for several hours, back to Meijer at 12 and Telegraph, where she bought the hatchet around 10:30 that same morning.
"Prior to purchasing the hatchet, Herring is observed on store surveillance video making several practice swings in the aisleway," Barren said.
Video showed Herring considering a mallet as well as a hatchet, before ultimately taking the items to self-checkout. However, Barren said she didn't pay for it.
"(She) scanned in a lesser valued item with the barcode only, and then put the hatchet in the bag. So again, concealing the fact that the hatch was purchased by stealing it," Barren said.
After buying the hatchet, Barren said she went to the bank around noon and sat in her car for about 30 minutes. At 12:31, she gets out of the car and approached in a "stealth-like manner", Barren said.
"We believe (she) was trying to get up the nerve to enter the building and commit the armed robbery," Barren said.
Two minutes later, Barren said she entered the bank, hit the first clerk she saw with the blade end of the hatchet, before pulling a gun out and demanding money from another worker.
The chief said she didn't even give the worker a chance to reply to her demands and believes that was done to make sure others would do as she told them.
"No sound idea why (she hit the worker) but a crime that should not have taken place," Barren said.
She then left the bank with an undisclosed amount of money.
As police investigated that day, and learned the two hatchet crimes were not related, they tracked her down at an apartment in Southfield, where she was arrested.
Barren said money was found hidden in a shoe in her home, as well as under a mattress, and in her car. Almost $2,500 was recovered, which Barren said the bank is working to confirm it was the currency stolen last week.
Barren said the bank employee was hospitalized for several days and is now home from the hospital.
What we don't know:
Barren said there is no known motive for the hatchet bank robbery. He said that Herring did not have any previous arrests.
The Source: FOX 2 was at the press conference with police chief Elvin Barren.