Crime novelist charged in 2 Metro Detroit bank robberies
A 41-year-old author who has written at least nine crime novels is facing federal charges in connection with two bank robberies in Metro Detroit.
According to a criminal complaint filed at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan earlier this month, Dorian Trevor Sykes is charged with bank robbery and incidental crimes.
Charges say the first robbery happened the morning of March 6 at Credit Union One in Sterling Heights, Michigan. A man entered the bank around 11:50 a.m. and allegedly handed a note to a teller.
"After the teller was not able to read the note, the subject stated, 'This is a robbery,' and demanded that the teller give him 'big bills,'" the criminal complaint said.
The teller allegedly gave the man around $10,169, and the man then left the bank.
Police recovered fingerprints at the Sterling Heights bank they think are the man's, and a witness told them an individual matching the man's description possibly drove a Mercedes sedan, charges say. Sykes received a traffic citation in a Mercedes Sedan in October 2024.
On March 12 around 4:40 p.m., a man approached a teller at Chase Bank in Lathrup Village, Michigan, and handed the teller a withdraw slip. According to the criminal complaint, the slip said, "Give me all the money… I have a gun… I will kill everyone in here."
The man allegedly implied he had a gun by pointing to his right side. Charges say the teller handed around $3,400 to the man, who took the money and left Chase Bank.
Surveillance footage from a home near the Lathrup Village Bank allegedly showed an individual matching the man's description running by a condominium complex and getting into a white Rolls-Royce.
According to the federal court document, Skyes has been on supervised release since February 2024 for a conviction in a 2020 bank robbery. Sykes' probation officer said he had been staying at the MGM Grand Detroit.
Police watching the hotel around three hours after the robbery at Chase Bank found Sykes driving a Rolls-Royce. Charges say the vehicle fled after an officer attempted a traffic stop.
Online court records show Sykes was taken into custody on March 18.
A phone belonging to Sykes, according to charges, was near both banks around the time of each robbery.
Sykes' written works include "King of Detroit," "The Good Life," and "Going All Out."
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