Court Watching: Belleville bank robbing charge dismissed against defendant Sergio Bellew

34th District Court Judge Tina Brooks Green dismissed a felony charge against Sergio Luis Bellew after a preliminary exam May 18 regarding the April 16, 2021 robbery of Chase bank in Belleville.
Judge Green said they had not heard from the teller who was robbed.
After listening to six witnesses, Judge Green said of the six not one said, “He robbed me.” She said it’s a tiny burden, to show probable cause. Nobody could say, “Yep, it was the guy.”
The case was dismissed without prejudice, which means if the state comes forward with the missing witness — Miss Goike — it could be refiled. The case has been adjourned twice because the witness wasn’t there. And, before that, it was dismissed because of this absent witness.
Bellew, 27, of River Rouge was charged with robbing the Belleville Chase bank on April 16, 2021. Scott Allen Hall, 35, of Port Huron was accused of driving the getaway car.
They had their preliminary exam set for Sept. 29, 2021 before Judge Lisa Martin and she dismissed the charges, with prejudice, on a motion of the prosecutor, when the necessary witness was not present for the exam. Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Jane Gillis said the necessary witness was in Florida.
The two also had been charged with robbing a bank in Redford Township on April 15, 2021. Bellew was bound over to circuit court on Sept. 7, 2021, and his final conference in that case is set for June 3. His bond had been reduced from $1 million to $100,000 personal recognizance bond.
With the Belleville case dismissed, he no longer had bond keeping him in the Wayne County Jail where he has been since his arrest a year ago. He will have to wear a tether.
Hall waived his exam on the Redford case and was bound over to circuit court where he awaits his May 25 pretrial.
Charges were refiled on Nov. 8, 2021 in the Belleville case and Bellew’s preliminary exam was set for noon on Jan. 19. Then it was adjourned twice before the May 18 date was set.
Hall waived his preliminary exam to go right to circuit court on the Belleville charge. His attorney said Hall is in drug treatment at a facility and doing well. He is out on $10,000 personal bond and the pretrial in this case is also May 25.
Testimony in Belleville case
On May 18 there were six witnesses for Bellew’s preliminary exam before Judge Green in the Belleville bank robbery case.
First witness was bank employee Barbara Romano who started to say that the teller who was robbed told her … and then there was an objection from the defense because that would be heresay. She was directed to testify only to what she herself saw.
Romano said she heard somebody say, “Lock the doors.” Anna, a teller, yelled, “I just got robbed.” Romano said she has been with the bank for 15 years and there are specific procedures to follow after a robbery. Lock the door, call 911, put up a sign saying the branch is temporarily closed and giving addresses of neighboring branches. She testified that she did not see the person who robbed the bank.
The second witness was Christopher Gale a bank customer who was waiting to talk to somebody in the bank and heard conversation that didn’t make sense, then the teller said to lock the door. He said he took notes on his hand of the general description of the man, who fled the building, turning right. He thought he might have to make a statement.
He did not see the note being handed to the teller. He described the man, who had a darker complexion, but he couldn’t tell if he was Caucasian or not because his face was covered.
The third witness was Bryan Szostak, the Canton Township Police Department K-9 officer, who said he was called to determine “if the bad guy was running this way.” He said his dog followed the scent from the bank over to the library building and into the far end of the library parking lot. Then they walked back on an evidence search to make sure they didn’t miss anything.
Stefani Skiendziel was the fourth witness, who testified she was working at home and sitting at her desk in front of the front window of her house which is across the street from the library parking lot. She saw a white car turning into the parking lot and backing into a spot. A person walked away from the car and the same person ran to the car and jumped into the back seat and the car sped off. It was a white Lexus, older model, she said.
She described the person’s clothing and said he had a red and white striped mask over his whole face. She said she made sure to keep an eye on the situation and then she saw the police show up.
Prosecutor Gillis showed a video of the front of the library showing the white car backing into a space at the far side of the parking lot. Tapes also were shown of the man running by the front of the library and the man walking past the ATM at the front of the bank.
The fifth witness was Belleville Police Sgt. Todd Schrecengost who said he was dispatched to the bank for a reported robbery and checked the immediate area before approaching the bank. The Chase manager let him inside and he interviewed people and had them complete statements. He said Van Buren Township police responded with two units and the K-9 unit came from Canton.
Sgt. Schrecengost said they got videos from the library and bank and from 265 Main and 365 Main. He said they shared information with the Michigan Department Intelligence group and then got a call from Redford Township police with information that they had a car and suspects in custody.
He said Bellew refused to talk to him but Redford had a search warrant for the car and there was a pair of black shoes with white soles, similar to the shoes in the video.
The final witness was Redford Police Det. Adam Kubrak who said Belleville sent out a BOL (be on the lookout) for that car on April 20, the day after he stopped that vehicle on Telegraph Road in Redford. He identified Bellew as being in that vehicle. Det. Kubrak said he had been looking for a 1997-2004 GS300 Lexis after the April 15 bank robbery in Redford. He said he notified Belleville.
“It’s a rare car,” he said.
He said Schrecengost did an inventory of the car, based on the search warrant Redford had, and found the black and white tennis shoes significant to his case.
Defense attorney Lillian Diallo asked Det. Kubrak if he saw Sergio Bellew rob a bank and he said he didn’t. She said the car wasn’t registered to Bellew and Kubrak agreed it wasn’t.
Defense attorney Diallo asked for witness Romano to be recalled and Romano testified that cash was taken because an audit was done. She said she did not see the money.
“You don’t have the bank teller that was robbed?” Judge Green asked Prosecutor Gillis and Gillis replied that Miss Goike lives in Florida. They contacted her and she was coming and she had plane tickets and, “Then we couldn’t find her.”