Wind Lake man also arrested
By Journal Times staff | Posted: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 12:00 am
RACINE - A 24-year-old Rochester man admitted to robbing two western Racine County banks in the last two months to help feed his daily heroin habit, according to a criminal complaint.
Thomas R. Tymus, 35308 Academy Road, admitted to authorities that he robbed two banks and then drove to Milwaukee both times to buy drugs, according to the complaint.
Racine County sheriff's deputies arrested Tymus on Monday night at a gas station on Highway 36 in the Town of Norway on an unrelated drunken driving warrant, after an investigation identified him as a suspect in the robbery of the Community State Bank in the Town of Dover on Jan. 7.
The Racine County District Attorney's office has charged Tymus with two counts of robbery with threat of force and one count of possession of heroin with intent to deliver, the complaint stated.
Tymus made his initial appearance in Racine County Circuit Court on Wednesday. His bond was set at $50,000.
Tymus faces up to $125,000 in fines and more than 40 years imprisonment on the drug possession and robbery charges.
Authorities also arrested a 29-year-old Wind Lake man who was a passenger in Tymus' vehicle Monday night.
Daniel J. Strosina, 7011 Townline Road, was charged with one count of possession of heroin with intent to deliver.
Strosina faces up to $25,000 in fines and no more than 14.5 years imprisonment if convicted.
Tymus had more than $1,000 in cash when authorities arrested him. Investigators found a $5 bill with a serial number that matched the money taken from the Community State Bank, according to the complaint.
Authorities also found syringes and bags of heroin in Tymus' vehicle at the time of his arrest, according to the complaint. Tymus told authorities the needles were his but not the heroin, according to the complaint. Tymus said the heroin belonged to Strosina.
Investigators believed six bags of heroin were intended for resale.
Besides admitting to robbing the bank in Dover, Tymus admitted to robbing the First Banking Center in Burlington on Dec. 17. Both times he passed written notes to bank employees demanding money, according to the complaint.
"That's me," Tymus reportedly said without hesitation when shown surveillance photos from the two bank robberies.
Tymus denied being the subject of a photo from another unsolved bank robbery when authorities showed it to him.
Tymus told authorities that he injects heroin three to five times daily, according to the complaint. He told authorities that he had last used heroin the night he was arrested.