Charges: Suspect was high when he robbed Rochester bank for 2nd time in 2 days

Having burned through much of the $3,000 from his first bank heist to get high, the suspect came back the next day and robbed the same Rochester bank, but he was unlucky enough to cross before the open lens of a TV news camera perched outside, according to federal charges.

Ryan R. Liskow, 36, was charged last week in federal court in St. Paul with two counts of bank robbery in the mid-December holdups of the Sterling State Bank on Hwy. 52 near NW. 55th Street. He had with him a bag containing cocaine, and "Liskow appeared to be under the influence of drugs at the time of his arrest," charges said.

Liskow, who at the time was living in a halfway house in Rochester for robbing a Minneapolis bank in 2009, remains in federal custody.

The aftermath of the second holdup was revealed on live TV by a reporter from Mason City, Iowa, who was in front of the bank reporting on the previous day's crime.

Adam Sallet of KIMT-TV had just begun his live report when a bank employee came running out, pointing and saying, "That's the robber. That's him right there."

Sallet told viewers, "This is live TV, folks. That's the robber — just went by, according to the bank employee. I have to go here and call 911. I'll talk to you later."

The station also had footage it recorded while not on the air that it did not show of Liskow walking into the bank and then jogging out. The station explained that it kept those portions under wraps until they were shown to police that same day.

On Dec. 14, Liskow gave a teller a note that said he was armed and demanded $5,000. She gave him $3,000.

The next day, Liskow was back at the same bank with a note demanding $10,000. The teller gave him $1,500 plus more to satisfy Liskow's persistence.

Liskow fled in a stolen van on northbound Hwy. 52, authorities said. He was stopped that same day by law enforcement officers near Coates in Dakota County; he was arrested with more than $1,400 on him and another $1,000 in a backpack.

In an interview with authorities, Liskow admitted to both robberies and said he "spent much of the money from the first robbery on illegal drugs, which he consumed," the charges read.

In connection with his earlier Minneapolis bank robbery conviction, Liskow entered the Franklin Bank on Dec. 28, 2009, and robbed it of more than $4,000.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482