By Jim Newell

Review Editor

A bank robber’s flight from authorities came to an end in Genesee County when police apprehended a 40-year-old Flint woman who had robbed a Huntington Bank in Orion Twp. on Saturday.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call at 10:07 a.m. Jan. 13 from an employee of the bank that a woman entered the bank, implied she had a weapon, and then fled with a black clothing bag turned inside out containing “an unknown amount of cash,” according to a sheriff’s reports.

The suspect left the Huntington Bank at 4983 S. Baldwin Road and fled northbound on Georgia Road in a black Saturn.

The bank employee gave deputies a description of the woman’s physical appearance, what she was wearing and in what direction she had fled. A deputy on patrol spotted the suspect’s vehicle on northbound I-75 and noted that the driver matched the physical description given.

Sheriff’s deputies followed the suspect until backup arrived and then initiated a traffic stop on the Saturn, stopping it on to the shoulder of the expressway at I-75 and the I-475 ramp in Genesee County.

Deputies determined that the driver was the suspect wanted in the robbery. During an inspection of the car, deputies found the black canvas bag with assorted denominations of money in the back seat of the Saturn.

All of the money stolen from the bank was recovered.

Detectives arrived at the scene to continue the investigation, and the OCSO Forensic Science Laboratory responded to process the scene, according to reports.

The woman was taken to the Orion Twp. Substation and interviewed by detectives from Orion and Independence townships.

In addition to the Orion Twp. bank robbery, the woman also admitted to a robbery at the Comerica Bank in Independence Twp. on Nov. 20, 2017.

On Tuesday afternoon, Lt. Dan Toth of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Orion Substation notified The Review that authorities got a three-count warrant against the woman, who was expected to be arraigned after press time.

The three felony counts are armed robbery for victim one; armed robbery for victim two; and bank robbery. All three counts could carry up to a life sentence.

The woman has a prior conviction for bank robbery in Grand Blanc Twp. on July 19, 2000 and pled guilty, getting a 3-10 year sentence.

She also was arrested July 20, 2002 in Auburn Hills for misdemeanor embezzlement while on probation and sent back to prison, according to the OCSO.

In April 2005, the suspect was arrested in Montrose Twp. on felony embezzlement charge. She pled guilty and was sentenced to 2-10 years.

She was arrested again in January 2014 in Flint Twp. on a felony embezzlement and charged with habitual 4th offense.

The suspect is lodged at the Oakland County Jail.

Deputies were assisted at the scene of the traffic stop by the Grand Blanc Twp. Police Department.

The FBI was notified and law enforcement agencies across southeast Michigan have also been notified to see if the suspect has been involved in other robberies.