WARREN - The city man accused of robbing the First Place Bank on Monday is the ex-boyfriend of a woman who is facing federal charges for robbing an Akron-area bank, according to police reports.
Joseph A. Queen, 23, 300 Scott St. N.E., who turned himself in late Monday, lived with the woman facing bank robbery charges in federal court as recently as July. Her partner in the Akron robbery was the last man convicted of robbing First Place, back in April 2009, according to the charges.
On Tuesday, second-degree felony robbery charges were filed against Queen accusing him of robbing the First Place Bank of between $1,500 and $2,000. He is scheduled to be arraigned this morning in Warren Municipal Court.
No gun was used in the robbery, but the female teller told police a gun was "mentioned."
After the robbery, Queen headed north on Pine Avenue, both on foot and by bicycle, police said. Officers canvassed the area, seized a bike and stopped several people, some witnesses and some people riding bikes they thought could be the suspect.
Police released the surveillance photos of the heist about 1 p.m. Queen turned himself in about seven hours later.
A search of court and police records showed Queen lived with Nicole R. Matanin, 29, as recently as July 20, when Queen was arrested on charges of domestic violence and carrying a concealed weapon. Queen eventually pleaded guilty and was placed on probation until August 2014 on the domestic violence charge and 2013 on the weapons conviction.
In that case, Queen punched Matanin in the face then rode away on a bicycle. Officers found Queen riding his bike on North Park Avenue. He had a large kitchen knife tucked in his pants, police reports state.
Matanin and Queen have a child together, reports state.
Meanwhile, Matanin was indicted by a federal grand jury Dec. 8 on bank robbery charges that accuse her and a Niles man of robbing an Akron bank.
Court documents state that the man, Justin R. Bowman, 29, drove her to the Key Bank at 548 Canton Road in October and instructed her to give a handwritten note demanding money. The two left with $1,103, according to the charges.
An FBI affidavit said Matanin, whose address in federal court filings is 1540 Tod Ave., admitted to robbing the bank with Bowman and is cooperating with investigators on an earlier bank robbery.
The affidavit states that Bowman told Matanin she would be safe because surveillance footage of her robbing the Akron bank would never be sent to the Warren area.
Bowman was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to robbing the First Place Bank of $1,100 in April 2009, the last time the bank was robbed.
Queen has been convicted of several crimes, mostly domestic violence charges. In 2010, he was sentenced to probation until June 2013 on a domestic violence conviction and was sentenced to 18 days served in jail and probation until September 2013 in a incident in which Queen pleaded guilty to three counts of receiving stolen property.
In that case, records show, he was accused of walking around the Villager Trailer Park in Warren Township and stealing a car stereo and a girl's purple mountain bike.