Finland man charged in Two Harbors bank robbery

A 25-year-old Finland man arrested in connection with the Christmas Eve robbery of the Lake Bank Super One branch in Two Harbors was charged in Lake County court Wednesday morning.

Robert Kenneth Moore was charged on counts of second-degree aggravated robbery, robbery and theft. Bail was set at $150,000 by Judge Michael Cuzzo.

Moore allegedly robbed the Lake Bank branch in the Super One grocery store in Two Harbors. According to the criminal complaint, the bank teller described how a male individual wearing a “light brown Carhartt jacket, blue jeans and a hat” with a hood “pulled up over his head” came up to her window and “displayed a note to her saying that the male had a gun and that the teller was to give the individual all the money she had, that she was to be quiet and was advised not to put any dyes in the bag.”

The teller said she placed $180 worth of “bait money” — bills that the bank photocopies and keeps serial number records on — into the Lake Bank bag that she also was filling with the rest of the money in her till and was “she was shaking because she was so afraid.”

Through surveillance video taken at the bank, Two Harbors police officer Nathan Gens “observed the male enter from the deli side,” approach the bank, and was also able to observe that the individual had a goatee or a beard. The complaint stated that Moore allegedly stole an estimated amount between $6,029 and $6,669.

According to the complaint, at 2:30 a.m. the next day, the Two Harbors Police Department “received information that the male suspect involved in the robbery at the Lake Bank” was in an apartment in Proctor that was rented by a man named James Ruby who said that Moore told him “I did it and I got away with it.”

The complaint went on to say that Lake County deputy sheriffs and FBI Agent Timothy Ball went to the apartment and found two other individuals there as well, and that one of them told the law enforcement officials that the suspect, who was later identified as Robert Kenneth Moore, was hiding in the bathroom, where he was found. A large amount of American money plus three $20 bait bills were later found in a brown camouflage backpack.

The complaint stated that Moore was interviewed on Christmas by Agent Ball and on Dec. 27 by Two Harbors Assistant Police Chief Richard Hogenson, which is when Moore “admitted that he obtained over $6,000 from the bank” and that he had been feeling like a “bad guy.”

According to the complaint, Moore said that he had gone to a couple of Duluth banks first, but upon realizing it was the Christmas Eve holiday and only a drive-thru was open, figured “there may be something open in Two Harbors.” The complaint said that Moore “wished the bank teller had realized that he really did not have a gun and called his bluff.”

Due to the seriousness of the crime, Lake County Attorney Laura Auron said the bail amount was “appropriate.” She said that upon going through Moore’s record of convictions, she found it “very extensive for a man of his age.” Moore had previously been convicted of theft in Alaska, among other convictions.

Moore’s next hearing is 3 p.m. Jan. 3.

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