HELENA — The Helena Police Department (HPD) is reporting that the Valley Bank branch on 9th Avenue was robbed Friday afternoon.
Helena resident John James Laverdure, 45, has been arrested and charged with one count of Robbery. He was booked at the detention center.
At 3:22 p.m. the 911 Dispatch Center received a telephone call from an employee at Valley Bank reporting one of the tellers had been robbed and a male suspect had left the building.
HPD says they were told that the suspect handed the bank employee a note demanding money and fled on foot from the bank after receiving cash. Police are not releasing the amount of money taken in the robbery at this time.
No weapon was shown during the incident and there were no reports of injuries to anyone involved.
Reviewing surveillance footage from the bank, an HPD detective believed the male to be Laverdure due to other recent involvements with law enforcement. A description of a vehicle he was known to drive was then put out to patrol units.
A patrol officer located the vehicle and Laverdure at the Holiday station in the 400 block of Euclid Avenue. Laverdure was detained and during a subsequent search, officers located a large sum of cash and other evidence connecting the male to the robbery.
The Helena Police Department was assisted during the incident by the Montana Highway Patrol and Montana Probation and Parole.
