Ryan Messina, the Methuen man charged with robbing a bank in Haverhill in June, was sent last week to Bridgewater State Hospital for a 20-day evaluation.
Essex County Superior Court Judge Kathleen McCarthy-Neyman ordered the 36-year-old’s hospitalization following a competency hearing during a court hearing Thursday, Oct. 23, on his fitness to stand trial.
Messina is charged with unarmed robbery, larceny over $1,200, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and receiving a stolen motor vehicle.
As WHAV reported, 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 on 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.