Milwaukee man arrested, charged in Greenfield bank robbery

GREENFIELD (WITI) -- 33-year-old James Slater of Milwaukee is now charged with robbery of a financial institution and possession of an electric weapon for the robbery of the Great Midwest Bank in Greenfield on Saturday, July 13th.

The criminal complaint against Slater indicates he "was wearing a suit" and a "fake mustache and beard." The complaint says Slater walked behind the counter of the bank and pulled out what a teller described as a taser and "sparked it in her face." The complaint indicates Slater then told everyone in the back to go "back in the safe to lay down and do not look at me."

The complaint says Slater then "began to use zip ties to tie the tellers' hands behind their backs. He then stated, 'Give me the keys, where is the big money?'" That's when a regular customer walked into the bank, noticed what was happening, and "began punching the defendant." The customer apparently got the best of Slater who "fled the bank without getting any money."

Officials say Slater was developed as a suspect through DNA recovered from an article of clothing found in the bank. After being identified, detectives from the Greenfield Police Department located and arrested Slater. Further testing of the clothing, revealed not only Slater’s DNA, but that of the victim who fought with the robber. Slater was also identified by a teller during a line up procedure.

If convicted, Slater faces up to 20 years in prison and $50,000 in fines.

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