Suspect charged in Taylor bank robbery

A 27-year-old man who allegedly robbed a Taylor bank while using a fake police badge last week has been charged in the crime.

Employees believe Aaron Smiatacz had been in the Alliance Catholic Credit Union on Cooper Street “acting suspiciously” about a week before the robbery, police said in a statement.

He returned at about 2:15 p.m. Friday and passed a note demanding money, investigators said. The Taylor man did not display a weapon, but witnesses reported he showed “some type of badge that was possibly gold with blue lettering,” according to the release.

Smiatacz fled with an undisclosed amount of money in a black compact car.

But he wasn’t on the lam for long. Taylor detectives quickly developed leads that led to identifying him as a suspect, and on Saturday afternoon, police officers arrested Smiatacz leaving a motel room in Canton Township.

He was arraigned Tuesday on one count each of bank robbery and impersonating a police officer. Taylor’s 23rd District Court Judge Joseph Slaven ordered him held on a $100,000 bond.