ITHACA, N.Y. – An Ithaca man was indicted in Tompkins County Court on Thursday morning on charges related to two recent armed bank robberies in Ithaca and Lansing.
Chaio Slater, 32, was arrested for two separate bank robberies, police say. The first robbery occurred on Dec. 5 at the Tompkins Trust Company located 775 South Meadow Street. According to bank employees, Slater entered the building just after 4:30 p.m. and demanded a bank teller to put money into a white plastic bag he was holding while he displayed a handgun. After receiving the cash, Slater reportedly fled south on Elmira Road.
Related: Update: Police ID man they say robbed Ithaca, Lansing banks at gunpoint
The second robbery took place on Jan. 17 at the CFCU located at 99 Sheraton Drive in Lansing. Witnesses said the suspect entered the credit union around 4:30 p.m. and approached tellers while displaying a handgun and demanding money. Reports say the suspect fled the scene and was seen running Northeast on Sheraton Drive with an undetermined amount of cash.
An investigation led to Slater’s arrest on Jan. 26, where police say he was taken into custody after investigators and the Ithaca SWAT team assisted with a planned traffic stop as Slater was driving North on Route 13 that night.
“We have to remember that in each of these robberies on the other side of the counter were civilian employees that had a gun pointed at them in the name of being robbed at gunpoint,” said Ithaca Police Chief Pete Tyler in a press conference following the arrest. “The amount of robberies that we had in a very short period of time kind of takes away from the peaceful feel that we like to think that we have here in the city of Ithaca.”
Slater was indicted on two charges of first-degree robbery. He is currently in custody at the Tompkins County Jail on a $100,000 cash bail or $300,000 bond.