Bigfork man suspected in bank robberies
The arrest of a Bigfork man Wednesday night may signal the end of a multi-year crime spree made up of six robberies and spanning five cities.
Late Wednesday, deputies with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office arrested Steven Dee Norred, 55, on suspicion of robbing Glacier Bank in Lakeside earlier that day. Norred, who for several years ran a local construction business as a general contractor, is also a suspect in five other robberies of banks and a truck stop, according to a press release from the FBI.
The investigation began when it was reported that a man wearing a motorcycle helmet entered the bank, displayed a gun and demanded cash, fleeing the bank on a dirt bike with an undisclosed amount of money at approximately 2:56 p.m. Wednesday.
Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said his department was able to locate and apprehend Norred because a bank customer followed the man when he left the bank and was able to provide some information.
“Based on information provided by [the] customer, we were able to develop a suspect,” Curry said. “We were also able, using some other investigative techniques, to develop additional information that pointed us in that direction.”
Norred was arrested following a traffic stop south of Bigfork on Montana 35 at roughly 9:30 p.m. He is being held in the Flathead County Detention Center pending the filing of formal criminal charges.
Investigation of the robbery was a joint effort between the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI due to the potential that the suspect was also involved in the Sept. 6, 2009, robbery of Muralt’s Truck Stop in Missoula; the Sept. 24, 2010, robbery of the First Interstate Bank in Bigfork; the Nov. 11, 2010, robbery of Glacier Bank in Lakeside; the April 5 robbery of First Valley Bank in Seeley Lake; and the May 31 robbery of Bitterroot Valley Bank in St. Regis.
The bank robberies began shortly before Norred and his wife filed for bankruptcy in December 2009. (See related story on Page A3.)
“The possibility that all of these robberies that had similar characteristics ... were interrelated is being closely examined,” Curry said.
The suspect in four of the five additional robberies was also reported to have worn a motorcycle helmet and escaped on a motorcycle, according to the FBI release.
The FBI had offered a reward of up to $5,000 to anyone providing information that led to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the crimes. It is unknown whether the helpful bank customer will receive that reward.
“I’ll certainly recommend it,” Curry said. “He did great.”
Curry said the department has been working on the serial bank robber case for some time. He noted that the ability to put the pieces together and bring the investigation to a close “is a pull-out-the-stops kind of thing for us.”
“The investigation of course is not complete, but this is a case that we — as far as cases that potentially [pose] danger to the public and public safety — it’s a case we’ve invested a lot into, and we’re very, very happy that we were able to at least bring this one to the point it’s at so far,” Curry said. “And I stress that’s certainly based upon the help of a very concerned citizen.”
Glacier Bank President Bob Nystuen said he was in Billings at the time of the robbery but had heard a suspect had been apprehended. He said procedures at the bank’s Lakeside location as well as its other locations had changed since the 2010 robbery.
Nystuen, who offered his and the bank’s appreciation to law enforcement personnel, witnesses and bank employees, said he didn’t think Glacier Bank itself was purposefully targeted.
“When you look at the pattern of the robberies that have occurred around Northwest Montana, there seems to be a common theme that the getaway is not probably on the highway but into wooded areas or things like that,” he said of why the Lakeside location may have been chosen.
Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.