A 65-year-old man with a history of bank heists is back in the slammer after allegedly trying to once again rob the same Michigan bank he was previously convicted of robbing. John Leon Tipton, after serving time for a 2022 robbery at the Fifth Third Bank on Michael Avenue SW, barely tasted freedom before authorities said he targeted the same branch on March 22, as WOODTV reported.
Accounts indicate that Tipton, who was sentenced to 573 days but released early due to time served, couldn't help but to immediately fall back into old habits. Police allege on March 7, after getting out of jail, he strolled into the bank shortly after its opening hours and demanded money from the teller, claiming to have a gun and threatening to shoot. "Defendant stated he had a gun and threatened that he would shoot the teller if she didn't give him the money," recounted a Wyoming officer in court documents seen by WOODTV.
This repeat offense comes as a shock to the community where the last bank robbery was Tipton's in 2022. The brazenness of the repeat offense startled both patrons and law enforcement. According to court records obtained by FOX 17, Tipton is now charged with one felony count of armed robbery and, if convicted, faces a potential life sentence.
Law enforcement managed to apprehend Tipton less than two hours after the alleged robbery. "He got cash and then took off," detailed a report by 13 ON YOUR SIDE. The successful capture took place on 28th Street SW, between Buchanan Avenue SW and South Division Avenue, swiftly putting an end to what might have seemed like a fleeting déjà vu for the Michigan bank staff. The judge later denied him bond and set a probable cause conference for early April.
History reveals that Tipton, whose rap sheet stretches back to the 1980s, is no stranger to the inside of a cell. He had been previously deemed a habitual offender, although that charge was dismissed in the 2022 case. The community now watches as justice attempts to untangle this web of recurring crime and contemplate the future of a man for whom reformation seems a road perpetually untaken.
