Bigfork bank robbery suspect in federal court

The 55-year-old Bigfork man facing charges in the robbery of two banks in Flathead County had an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Missoula on Wednesday.

Steven Dee Norred appeared on a complaint alleging bank robbery. If he is charged with and convicted of the offense, he would face up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Norred already has been charged in Flathead District Court with the Sept. 24, 2010, robbery of First Interstate Bank in Bigfork and the Nov. 10, 2010, and Sept. 28, 2011, robberies of Glacier Bank in Lakeside.

He was arrested after the Lakeside bank was robbed Sept. 28 by a man wearing a motorcycle helmet who displayed a gun, received more than $14,000 from tellers and fled on a motorcycle.

A customer followed the motorcycle into the woods before losing track of it, then reported the license plate number of a truck that then drove back past him the other direction.

The truck was tracked to Norred. When arrested, Norred had a $20 bill with the same serial number as the bills stolen from the bank, along with a handgun, a stack of cash wrapped in a rubber band and a bag containing several bundles of cash.

If convicted of all three charges, Norred faces between six and 120 years in prison and a fine of up to $150,000.

Norred is also a suspect in the September 2009 robbery of Muralt’s Truck Stop in Missoula, the April 2011 robbery of First Valley Bank in Seeley Lake, and the May 2011 robbery of Bitterroot Valley Bank in St. Regis.