More New Info in Harvey Bank Robbery Case

A week ago, U.P. law enforcement was on high alert after the armed robbery of a Marquette County bank.

As ABC 10 news director Cynthia Thompson reports, it was an all–around successful effort that led to the capture of the prime suspect.

A routine traffic stop led to the arrest of Cheboygan, Michigan resident Justin Dee McLean.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Marquette says he’s the man seen in surveillance video from Northern Michigan Bank in Harvey last Wednesday.

He is seen walking up to the teller and asking for money, and when the teller hesitated, he displayed a pistol.

Surveillance video from the Holiday gas station in Harvey, and from a volunteer firefighter’s dash–mounted video camera helped police hone in on McLean’s identity.

He was already on the run.

The Cheboygan County Prosecutor says McLean was to have gone on trial the same day as the robbery for stealing an iPad from a cell phone store.

When he didn’t show up for jury selection or the trial, a bench warrant for absconding was issued.

Just before 11 Sunday night, McLean was pulled over in Campbell County, Wyoming.

He had a broken taillight.

A standard check of his license number turned up the bench warrant.

By this time, local law enforcement and FBI officials based in Marquette had also been in touch with Cheboygan County.

Chocolay Township Police Chief Greg Zyburt says after that contact was made, the bank robbery also turned up in the Law Enforcement Information Network computer system, or LEIN, along with the Cheboygan County absconding warrant.

McLean was also wanted on a parole violation and in a second case unrelated to the iPad theft.

Several relatives of McLean’s identified him as the man in the bank robbery video.

Just under $1,100 was stolen.

McLean’s wife and two-year-old daughter were traveling with him at the time of the robbery and the traffic stop.

McLean’s wife has been cooperating with the FBI.

She turned over several hundred dollars that she says her husband gave her when he was taken to jail on the downstate warrant.

The money included $20 bills whose serial numbers matched a list of marked bills that are used to track bank robbers.

McLean’s next court appearance has not been set.

Federal authorities say he should be back in the state of Michigan to face the federal bank robbery charge within the next three weeks.

Communication, coordination, coincidence and a traffic violation all combined to capture Justin Dee McLean.