The man accused of robbing an Independence Township bank Nov. 9 picked up his dry cleaning, got a haircut and stopped for a sandwich after demanding $5,000 from a teller at TCF bank on Dixie Highway.
According to police reports, Michael Charles Gonchoroff, 51, woke around 5 p.m. the day of the incident feeling he had two options: end his life or rob a bank.
Gonchoroff told investigators he showered and shaved, then drove around, looking for a bank to rob. He considered two other banks before deciding to rob the TCF at 6430 Dixie Highway, but both were already closed.
Gonchoroff told police he put an eyeglass case in his pocket to look like a weapon, then entered the bank and presented the teller with a note claiming he had a loaded weapon and wanted $5,000 in large bills. The teller and manager went to the vault, got the money and gave it to Gonchoroff, who apologized and left the bank.
Gonchoroff told police he dropped some of the money off at home, went to a nearby bank to deposit $950 in his girlfriend’s account and used money from the robbery to pay for his other errands.
Meanwhile, police viewed surveillance video from the robbery and immediately recognized the man as ‘Michigan Mike? a frequent patron of the Clarkston Tap. Police then located a friend who went to school with Gonchoroff, and was able to identify the man by first and last name.
Gonchoroff returned home again, put away his dry cleaning, and put his sandwich in the refrigerator and was on his way to make a payment on his car when undercover police approached him in the parking lot of his apartment on Parview.
Gonchoroff identified himself and was arrested without incident.