The city of Bloomington had two bank robberies within days of each other last week, and now a Bloomington resident has been arrested and charged in one of them.
The Bloomington Police Department (BPD) posted an alert last week looking for the public’s help in identifying a suspect in two recent robberies of financial institutions.
Bloomington Police Investigators are looking for assistance to identify a suspect in two robberies. US Bank on April 18th, and Top Line Federal Credit Union on April 21st. Information can be provided to Bloomington Police at 952-563-4900 pic.twitter.com/Nah0URa2Qn
— Bloomington Police (@BPD_MN) April 22, 2022
The first robbery took place on the morning of April 18 at a US Bank branch on the 9600 block of Lyndale Avenue South. The second happened in the afternoon of April 21 at TopLine Federal Credit Union on the 5200 block of Viking Drive.
On Monday, BPD announced the arrest of Mark Nils Johnson, 40, of Bloomington who has since been charged in relation to the TopLine FCU robbery.
In the TopLine robbery, the suspect handed the teller a note stating, “Put 20s 50s and 100s in bag no alarm or I will set off bomb in backpack.” The teller gave the suspect a total of $4,100, all in $100 bills, and the suspect left the bank.
Charges say police were able to identify from surveillance video the vehicle the suspect used in the robbery and traced it to an address in Bloomington. They set up surveillance on the address, and on April 22 located the suspect vehicle driving nearby.
Police followed the vehicle, which began driving evasively. The charging document states that officers initiated lights on their unmarked squads, but the suspect vehicle didn’t stop. The vehicle instead traveled at speeds of over 50 mph in a 30 mph residential zone. Officers were eventually able to stop the vehicle and apprehended Johnson.
Inside Johnson’s vehicle, officers located $3,480 in cash, all in $100 bills. Officers also observed that the shoes Johnson was wearing matched the shoes of the bank robber. In a subsequent search of Johnson’s home address, officers located the front portion of a ripped envelope and a baseball hat matching the one used in the robbery. Johnson’s mother also confirmed that the clothing worn by the person captured in surveillance video matched some of her son’s clothing.
Johnson has been charged with second-degree aggravated robbery and fleeing police in a motor vehicle, both felonies.
In a statement, Bloomington Police Chief Booker T. Hodges said, “Our detectives are the best. If you rob banks traumatizing their staff in our city, our detectives will catch you and lock you up. I am grateful no one was hurt during these robberies.”
At the time of his arrest, Johnson was on probation and was wanted on a warrant in relation to a Dakota County felony drug case in which he received a statutory stay of adjudication in 2019. Johnson had failed to show up for a court hearing on a proposed probation violation in December and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Johnson is also wanted on a warrant out of Ramsey County in which he’s charged with felony fifth-degree possession of narcotics and a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of a controlled substance. The case was charged in January 2020 and hearings were cancelled or rescheduled due to the pandemic. However, the court record shows that Johnson failed to appear at a scheduled hearing in April 2021 and a warrant was issued for his arrest at that time.
Johnson made his first court appearance on Tuesday on the new bank robbery charges and was granted a public defender. Johnson remains in custody in Hennepin County Jail on $50,000 bail and is scheduled to make his next court appearance on May 24.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
