Sunday, February 21, 2010

Trial Begins for Sgt. Michael Tindall Charged with Bank Robbery

A Conroe police officer robbed a local bank two years ago because he had mounting financial problems and used his knowledge about the inner workings of the bank to pull off the crime, a federal prosecutor said Thursday.

Former Conroe police Sgt. Michael Tindall had maxed out all four of his credit cards and had two overdrawn bank accounts when he allegedly robbed the First Bank of Conroe, where he worked as a security guard for 17 years on his off days, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kebharu Smith during opening statements of Tindall's trial in Houston federal court.

A road map of the evidence will show “he prepared for this crime,” Smith said.

Defense attorney Robert Scardino acknowledged Tindall was a bad money manager, but told jurors that the evidence is mostly circumstantial and that investigators failed to look at a suspect known to have robbed several banks in Montgomery County.

Tindall, a 22-year veteran police officer, is accused of robbing the bank on Aug. 11, 2008, stealing more than $28,000. He was arrested by FBI officials March 24, 2009.

Bank employees recognized Tindall as the robber from the video surveillance and the bank senior vice president notified authorities the next day, investigators said.

The video captured the suspect entering the bank shortly before 9:30 a.m., wearing a white motorcycle helmet with a clear visor, aviator-style sunglasses, gloves, a dark jacket or shirt, blue jeans and carrying a black bag. Employees said the suspect had physical characteristics similar to Tindall. A bank teller said the suspect's voice sounded similar to Tindall's voice.
Prosecution evidence

Conroe police officers, after reviewing the video, also said that the suspect walked and used gestures similar to Tindall, investigators said.

Smith said the evidence will show that two days before the crime Tindall rented a Chevrolet Malibu. The vehicle's odometer showed he drove 10 miles, about the same miles it took to drive from the rental car lot to his apartment, then to the bank and back to the rental car lot.

Police records will show that he also used his police radio to monitor traffic to wait for the opportune moment to rob the bank. He turned on the radio 30 minutes before he robbed the bank and turned it off about 30 minutes after the crime, Smith said.

Investigators found a white helmet in Tindall's garage, Smith said.

He also used his inside knowledge of the bank. He demanded the teller open the “bottom drawer” because he knew that's where the bank kept the large bills, the prosecutor said.

Scardino said there were explanations for many of the coincidences described by Smith. He said his evidence will show that Tindall rented the car because his girlfriend was using his car to visit relatives. He used the radio on Aug. 11, his day off, because he wanted to keep tabs on his district, he said.
Explaining details

Scardino acknowledged the evidence will show that Tindall deposited a hot $1,500 check from another account into his account at First Bank of Conroe on Aug. 10 to cover overdrafts. He also acknowledged that Tindall made a $5,000 cash deposit in his account at another bank near his home on the day of the robbery, but that money was a loan from Tindall's parents, not a bank robbery. Besides, Tindall had $150,000 in a retirement account, he said.

He also said that all five tellers at the bank during the robbery each gave different descriptions of the suspect.

In addition, FBI investigators never looked into another potential suspect until two weeks ago.

The man in question is known to have robbed banks in the area and had similar physical characteristics as the robbery suspect.

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