Bank robber turned crime novelist in custody after 2 more alleged heists
A 41-year-old man from Detroit, a crime novelist with eight published works of fiction to his name, one of which comes out this year, who has spent more than 20 years in federal prison is back in custody after two more alleged heists, according to multiple media reports.
In 2005, Dorian Trevor Sykes was sentenced to 17 years in prison for his participation in the Dec. 2002 robbery of a Detroit branch of Fifth Third Bank that netted him and two accomplices nearly $200,000, The Detroit News reported.
Some six weeks after his release in 2019, according to the outlet, Sykes robbed two more banks in Oak Park and Warren, two suburban Detroit cities, getting away with barely more than $2,000.
He was arrested a day later at a craps table inside Motor City Casino, wearing the same clothes he’d worn while robbing the two banks.
Sykes was later sentenced to more than five years in prison for those robberies.
It was reportedly during his time in prison that he did most of his writing.
“During the time of his lengthy incarceration, he penned several highly notable street novels, including his Going All Out trilogy,” the 41-year-old’s Barnes & Noble bio reads. “Currently residing in Detroit, Mr. Sykes is constantly working to give the readers new hot material.”
Released from prison yet again in Feb. 2024, Sykes didn’t immediately return to robbing banks.
It wasn’t until March 6 of this year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that the 41-year-old reportedly walked into Credit Union One in Sterling Heights, a suburb of Detroit, handed an illegible note to the teller before saying, “This is a robbery,” and demanding large bills.
The teller handed over $10,169 and the suspect fled.
In a criminal complaint filed by Matthew Willard, a Sterling Heights Police Officer assigned to the FBI’s Macomb County Gang and Violent Crime Task Force, a witness said the robbery suspect fled the area in a black crossover vehicle, possibly a Mercedes.
Court records from Oct. 2024 showed Sykes received a traffic citation in a black Mercedes. Additionally, his probation officer – Sykes was on supervised release for his prior bank robberies – confirmed he drove a black Mercedes. Fingerprints pulled from the credit union’s front door also reportedly matched Sykes.
Six days after that robbery, on March 12, a suspect matching Sykes’ description entered a Chase Bank in Lathrup Village, a Detroit suburb, and passed the teller a withdrawal slip that a handwritten note saying, “Give me all the money. I have a gun. I will kill everyone in here,” before allegedly gesturing to his hip in a suggestion that he was armed.
That suspect left the bank with $3,400.
Nearby surveillance cameras captured the individual running behind a condo complex and fleeing in a white Rolls-Royce SUV.
Cellphone records for Sykes showed his phone used a cell tower near the Sterling Heights bank on the day of the March 6 robbery. Records also showed his phone near the Chase bank on the day of the March 12 robbery, the criminal complaint alleges.
Three hours after robbing the Chase Bank, the 41-year-old was tracked by law enforcement to the MGM Grand Casino, where officers spotted him in a white Rolls-Royce SUV. According to the FBI, he fled when officers attempted to pull him over.
It’s unclear exactly how and where he was taken into custody, but court filings, according to The Detroit News, indicated he was arrested sometime before March 18.