No determination was made recently in a Methuen man’s competency to stand trial on alleged bank robbery and other charges, but the 37-year-old man is scheduled to return to court in April.
Ryan M. Messina was charged with unarmed robbery, larceny over $1,200, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and receiving a stolen motor vehicle after an incident last June at a bank branch in Haverhill. He is being held in the Essex County House of Correction in Middleton on $300,000 cash bail.
Messina was been given a new date to appear in Essex County Superior Court—Tuesday, April 21, at 2 p.m. The evaluation of Messina’s competency to stand trial was conducted by psychologist Alexandra A. Sperzel and presented to Judge Kathleen McCarthy-Neyman at Messina’s last court hearing in March.
As WHAV reported in June, Essex County Assistant District Attorney Olivia Brooks said Messina is alleged to have ordered a person out of a white Honda CRV in Lawrence shortly after noon, Monday, June 2. He is alleged to have driven to the Westgate branch of Pentucket Bank, 395 Lowell Ave., in Haverhill, put on a mask and sunglasses and handed the teller a note demanding $10,000. He was given the cash and left the bank in the same car. Brooks said security cameras caught the stolen vehicle entering and leaving the bank’s parking lot.
Haverhill Police detectives with the assistance of the Massachusetts State Police, FBI and Methuen Police located Messina near his home the next day.