Peabody bank robbery suspect arraigned, will be held for 60 days

PEABODY-The man who stands accused of robbing the Sovereign Bank on Route 114 will be held in custody for at least 60 days because he violated the conditions of his release from a previous assault and battery case, authorities said.William Heil, 30, of 109 Weathersfield St., Rowley, was arraigned Thursday in Peabody District Court for unarmed robbery and disorderly conduct in connection with the Wednesday afternoon robbery and resulting foot chase with police.Heil has a pending assault and battery court case out of Newburyport District Court, which occurred when he lived at an address in Athol. Because he violated the terms of his release by allegedly robbing the bank, he must sit in jail for at least two months.Employees at the bank reported to police that a man matching Heil’s description walked into the lobby around 2:45 p.m. and passed a note to a teller saying, “MONEY NOW.”The teller gave Heil approximately $375 cash, which he separated into three piles and put each pile into different pockets in his pants, police said.Within minutes of the robbery, detectives Douglas Marcus and Brian Richard were checking several nearby parking lots when they came upon Heil outside Outback Steak House. Heil apparently had changed clothes since the robbery, police said.Heil started to walk down Route 114 when the detectives approached him and asked him about his whereabouts. They noticed a bulge in his right front pocket so they tried to pat frisk him out of fear he was holding a weapon, police said.Then, Heil ran.The detectives ran after Heil in the middle of traffic on Route 114, causing cars to stop. After a few moments, he was tackled by Marcus and arrested.Police found a wad of $176 cash in Heil’s right front pocket, $101 in his left front pocket and $98 in his left rear pocket, police said. The note demanding money from the bank teller was also found in his jeans pocket, according to police.