Suspected bank robber pleads not guilty

The 55-year-old Bigfork man suspected of robbing a bank in Lakeside on Sept. 28 pleaded not guilty Thursday at his arraignment.

Steven Dee Norred was charged with felony armed robbery after he allegedly entered Glacier Bank in Lakeside, where he displayed a weapon and demanded money from a bank employee. It is alleged that Norred then fled the bank on a motorbike with approximately $14,000 in stolen cash.

Norred was arrested a few hours later following a traffic stop on Montana Highway 35 south of Bigfork. A black holster containing a pistol — along with several bundles of cash — were plainly visible inside of the truck he was driving.

After searching the vehicle, law enforcement officials recovered $3,600. The cash was taken to Glacier Bank, where it was confirmed that the money was bundled in the same way that the bank bundles its money.

The motorbike was recovered in the area where Norred had last been seen riding it.

Norred is currently being held at the Flathead County Detention Center, where his bond is set at $250,000. If convicted, he could be sentenced to between two and 40 years in prison and fined up to $50,000.

Norred, who for several years ran a local construction business as a general contractor, had filed for bankruptcy late in 2009, citing more than $2 million in debt.

Norred is also under federal investigation for his possible involvement in a string of unsolved bank robberies in the area, including the May 31 robbery of Bitterroot Valley Bank in St. Regis, the April 5 robbery of First Valley Bank in Seeley Lake, the Sept. 24, 2010, robbery of the First Interstate Bank in Bigfork and the Nov. 11, 2010, robbery at the same Glacier Bank location that he is suspected of robbing in Lakeside.

Additionally, Norred is suspected to have been involved in the Sept. 6, 2009, robbery of Muralt’s Truck Stop in Missoula.