Rollins man pleads innocent in bank caper

The Rollins man arrested after he allegedly joked about robbing a Lakeside bank pleaded innocent to criminal endangerment Wednesday in Flathead County District Court.

Ross Marlin Tetachuk, 48, is being held in the Flathead County Detention Center with bail set at $16,185.

He was arrested by Flathead County Sheriff’s Office deputies shortly after he allegedly walked into Glacier Bank on U.S. 93 on Dec. 1, reached toward his waistband and said: “I’m going to rob you, I have gun.”

The same bank was robbed less than a month earlier on Nov. 10 when a man wearing a helmet displayed a weapon, demanded money and a fled on a motorcycle with an undisclosed amount of cash.

According to court documents, Tetachuk said he was joking after bank employees — who recognized him as a customer — asked him to leave.

Tetachuk insisted on making a withdrawal, and told employees they needed to “toughen up,” according to court documents.

After completing the transaction, Tetachuk left and employees locked the doors and secured the building.

The Flathead County Attorney’s Office charged him with felony criminal endangerment after the Sheriff’s Office initially recommended a charge of attempted robbery.

Criminal endangerment is punishable by up to 10 years in state prison and a fine of $50,000.

Judge Stewart Stadler scheduled the next hearing on the matter for Jan. 19; a trial is expected to begin sometime in March.