GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — As Grand Rapids police search for a suspect in the city’s first bank robbery of 2021, two men responsible for separate heists last fall are facing 20 years for robberies that may seem hardly worth the effort.
Kimathi R. Smith got about $790 in a Nov. 2 holdup on the city’s Northwest Side.
Dennis L. Burger fled with a little more than $1,500 in a Sept. 21 robbery on the city’s Southeast Side.
Both men have robbed banks before. Each face up to 20 years in prison when they appear in federal court for sentencing later this year.
“I know times are tough during a pandemic, but obviously, no one should be robbing a bank,’’ U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge said. “First of all, there isn’t necessarily going to be the cash on hand that one might think. But it’s also a federal crime.’’
Grand Rapids had five bank robberies in 2020. Grandville and Kent County each had one.
The most recent heist occurred just before 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 4, at the Chase Bank branch on Breton Road, just north of Burton Street SE.
A suspect entered the bank and demanded money while implying they had a weapon, Grand Rapids police said. The suspect wore what was described as a subdued camouflage ‘Members Only’ coat, red gloves, mirrored sunglasses and white shoes.
Birge said federal and local law enforcement work together on bank robbery investigations and have a fairly high rate of success. In 2019, for instance, four bank robberies were reported across Kent County; arrests were made in all but one.
Occasionally, bank robbers return to familiar ground.
That was the case with 55-year-old Dennis Lee Burger, who is awaiting sentencing for the Sept. 21 robbery at Macatawa Bank at 2440 Burton Street SE.
He robbed the same bank in January of 2018 and another Macatawa branch a few days later. Burger was on supervised release from federal prison when the latest robbery occurred.
Investigators say Burger entered the bank and handed the teller a note that read: “This is a robbery. Put the money in the folder.’’ He fled with $1,558, federal court records show.
Burger pleaded guilty to bank robbery, and sentencing has been set for mid-February.
Also awaiting sentencing is Kimathi Roderico Smith, who robbed the Fifth-Third Bank at 700 Bridge Street NW on Nov. 2. He got away with $791, court records show. Smith in December pleaded guilty to bank robbery; sentencing has been set for late March.
Smith, 48, also has a history of robbing banks. He has convictions in 2000 and again in 2008. Smith was on federal probation when the most recent robbery occurred.
“That’s never an offense that we’re going to take lightly,’’ Birge said. “And the FBI has a very high clearance rate on those cases, as does local law enforcement.’’
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