SKOWHEGAN — A Skowhegan man was sentenced this month to serve three years in prison after pleading guilty to felony robbery and theft charges in the January 2018 holdup of Skowhegan Savings Bank in Norridgewock.
Dustin L. Everett, 35, of Gerald’s Way in Skowhegan, entered guilty pleas to class A robbery with use of a firearm and class B theft with use of a dangerous weapon for the Jan. 9, 2018, robbery of the downtown Skowhegan Savings Bank branch.
Everett was sentenced to serve eight years on the robbery plea and three years on the theft charge, with all but three years suspended. He also is ordered to serve three years of probation once he is released and not to return to any of the properties of Skowhegan Savings Bank, according to court documents.
He will serve his time in one of the state prisons operated by the Maine Department of Corrections. Everett also was ordered to pay $6,903.50 in restitution.
He entered the guilty pleas Jan. 8.
Police at the time said Everett had threatened to use force against a bank teller.
Police used DNA evidence to arrest him in June.
He was taken into custody June 28 at his home on Gerald’s Way in Skowhegan, Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster said at the time. Everett confessed to having committed the bank robbery, the sheriff said.
About 12:27 p.m. on Jan. 9, 2018, a team from the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a bank robbery at Skowhegan Savings Bank on Main Street in Norridgewock. The ensuing investigation conducted by detectives assigned to the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Division revealed that a lone male robber had entered the bank, brandished what appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun and demanded cash from the bank tellers.
At the time of the robbery, three tellers and two customers were in the bank, but no one was physically harmed. The robber, now known to be Everett, stole thousands of dollars in cash, after which he left the bank on foot, traveling south on Perkins Street in the direction of Route 8, according to Lancaster.
Everett reportedly entered the bank shortly after noon wearing a red neoprene ski mask, a dark stocking cap, a dark jacket, light blue jeans and gloves. He reportedly brandished a weapon that appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun, jumped onto the counter and demanded that the bank tellers give him money.
School officials at nearby Mill Stream Elementary School on Mercer Road, also known as U.S. Route 2, were notified of the robbery around 1 p.m. Officials put the school on lockout, which restricts anyone from coming into or leaving the school, School Administrative District 54 Superintendent Brent Colbry said at the time.
During the investigation into the bank robbery, witness statements and evidence were collected, including surveillance footage and possible clothing worn by the robber that had been discarded a short distance from the bank, Lancaster said. The clothing was submitted to the State Crime Laboratory for DNA analysis.
DNA profiles were collected from the clothing and a possible suspect was identified from a match in the Combined DNA Index System database, according to the sheriff.
The possible suspect in the case was identified as Everett.
On May 22, sheriff’s office detectives with a warrant conducted a search at Everett’s home and spoke with Everett about the robbery. Everett initially denied any involvement in the robbery when interviewed, Lancaster said. A sample of Everett’s DNA was collected at that time and sent to the crime laboratory for analysis.
Crime laboratory technicians in June confirmed that Everett’s DNA matched the DNA collected on the clothing recovered near the scene of the robbery.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter:@Doug_Harlow
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