Man Arrested For Rochester Hills NYE Bank Robbery: Sheriff

ROCHESTER HILLS, MI — A man was arrested at a Garden City gas station Tuesday for robbing a Rochester Hills bank on New Year's Eve, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said.

Ali Hussein Farhat, 33, was charged with armed robbery and bank robbery, and was placed in the Oakland County Jail with a cash bond set at $250,000, officials said. He could face up to life in prison if convicted on either the bank robbery or armed robbery charges.

Farhat is accused of robbing the Chase Bank at 75 N. Adams Road in Rochester Hills at 4:47 p.m. on New Year's Eve, in which he slipped the teller a handwritten note announcing the robbery and threatened that people would die unless the teller placed large bills into an envelope quickly without alerting anyone, officials said.

Farhat said he had a weapon, but never showed it during the robbery, officials said. He then ran from the bank dressed in black and wearing a Detroit Lions hat.

Detectives used surveillance videos from the bank and nearby businesses to link a black 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche to Farhat, which was later offered for sale on social media a few days after the robbery, officials said.

Detectives contacted Farhat about the SUV and took it for a test drive, where they were able to identify Farhat as the suspect in the robbery and link the vehicle to the robbery, officials said.

Detectives also found a BB gun that appeared like a real weapon during a search of Farhat's home and vehicle, officials said.

Farhat has prior convictions for driving while his license was suspended, second-degree retail fraud, operating a motor vehicle while impaired and third-degree retail fraud.