Judge on Third Attempt Found to Hear Bank Robbery Case

01-25-23
By: Stan Maddux
A judge has finally been secured to hear the case of a Berrien County man accused of robbing a bank then paying for a pizza delivery with some of the stolen loot.
Ryan James, 43, of New Buffalo was still awaiting trial on $15,000 bond.
Originally, James was held in the Berrien County Jail because he was arrested for the Indiana bank robbery in Michigan.
He was transferred across the state line to the LaPorte County Jail two weeks later to answer to the allegations.
The hold-up occurred during the afternoon on December 15 at a First Source Bank branch in Michigan City.

LaPorte Superior Court 1 Judge Jamie Oss, who had automatic jurisdiction over the case, recused herself from presiding over the allegations.
She gave no reason for her decision.
LaPorte Circuit Court Judge Tom Alevizos was later asked to hear the case but cited an existing back log of other undecided criminal matters in his court for turning down the request.
On January 11, LaPorte Superior Court 4 Judge Greta Friedman agreed to preside over the case.
The court ruled James was unable to afford private counsel and granted him a public defender, Christopher Kozelichki, who has a legal practice in South Bend.
James with a surgical mask on his face allegedly committed the robbery by slipping a note to a teller.
In writing, he demanded money and claimed to have a gun, police said.
According to court documents, James fled with about $4,000 in a dark-colored sport utility vehicle spotted unoccupied in the parking lot of Judy’s Motel on U.S. 12 just west of the New Buffalo city limits.
The discovery of the vehicle was made by a Pokagon Tribal Police officer less than one hour after the robbery.
Not only did the SUV look similar to the one captured on video fleeing the bank, police said the back window contained the same looking Chicago White Sox sticker that was in the rear window of the getaway vehicle.
Immediately, the motel was placed under surveillance to make sure James couldn’t slip away while police and prosecutors gathered evidence to present to a judge for an arrest warrant.
At one point, police said James was spotted opening his motel room door to accept a pizza he had delivered from a local establishment, Villa Nova Pizzeria.

Court documents also revealed James paid the tab with some of the stolen money based on the bills accepted by the pizza parlor matching the serial numbers on some of the currency stolen from the bank.
James was taken into custody without incident once the arrest warrant was obtained early that evening.
Police said James gave a confession and claimed he did not have a gun during the heist.
He was housed in the Berrien County Jail until the process required for transferring an offender to face charges in another jurisdiction was completed.
So far, no light has been shed on what led up to the robbery.