Man Arrested For Bank Robberies Says He Was 'Behind On Bills'
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Police have arrested a man in connection with a series of bank robberies that occurred in the metro earlier this month.
Steven Michael McKeon, 34, was arrested on charges of second degree aggravated robbery and second degree attempted robbery on July 13, 2016.
McKeon confessed to robberies in Arden Hills, Burnsville and White Bear Lake, according to the criminal complaint.
The robbery in White Bear Lake occurred at the Lake Area Bank on June 28. A female teller told police that a white male, 20-30 years old and 6 feet tall handed her a note saying he had a gun and demanded cash. The teller began walking away to get the money, explaining to the robber that she did not have a cash drawer. The robber then left the bank.
On Tuesday in Arden Hills, a female teller at a TCF Bank located inside a Cub Foods told police a white male, 6 feet to 6-feet-5-inches tall entered the bank. He handed her a note that read, "I have a goal, quietly give me the money in the drawer." He also told the teller he had a gun.
The teller gave the man the cash from her drawer, about $4,298. He took the money and left.
Witnesses saw the man leave Cub Foods and a cloud of red smoke explode from an dye pack in bank bait money. He left in a vehicle with the license plate 498 MLB.
Surveillance footage from that incident showed a suspect similar to the one who robbed a TCF Bank inside of a Cub Foods in Burnsville on July 5.
The car the man left the scene in was registered to a woman whose Facebook account showed several photographs of a man, later determined to be McKeon, who looked like the bank robbery suspect. Police determined his address and arrested him at his home on Wednesday.
McKeon's fiance confirmed it was him in the surveillance photos from the Arden Hills and Burnsville robberies. She also confirmed McKeon drives the vehicle with the license plate 498 MLB.
Police found pair of jeans with red dye on them at McKeon's residence, as well as wet money wrapped in a towel and marked "good."
According to the complaint, after his arrest McKeon told police he did not actually have a gun in any of the robberies. He also told police he committed the robberies because he is behind on bills and has an addiction to painkillers.
