Empire Robbery Suspect Faces New Charges

The suspect in an Empire bank robbery faces charges in Traverse City after detectives discovered two tasers in his van.

The van was parked at the Green Lake Township home of a friend of 69-year-old William Minore, Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Capt. Randy Fewless says. Investigators in the armed robbery case searched the van Sept. 8. On Friday, prosecutors authorized two counts of possession of a taser against Minore.

The Benzonia resident has not been charged in connection with the Sept. 7 bank robbery in Empire when a man armed with a silver pistol burst into the building and demanded money after someone made phony 911 calls to divert police elsewhere, but officials have called him a suspect in that case.

Minore is charged with car theft from an incident that same day when he was captured on surveillance allegedly stealing a car in Glen Arbor. He’s being held in Leelanau County in lieu of $1 million bond on the car theft charge.

Stun guns are illegal to possess in Michigan, but they can be purchased online because they are legal in some states, Fewless says. Possession of a stun gun is a felony that carries up to four years in prison.