Sterling man accused of robbing Morrison bank to undergo mental fitness evaluation

A Whiteside County judge ruled that a Sterling man accused of robbing a Morrison bank in July will undergo a mental fitness evaluation as requested by his attorney.

Whiteside County Associate Judge Magen Mertes made the ruling during Ryan D. Hick’s court appearance Monday when he was slated to have two preliminary hearings – one for a case accusing him of robbing a Morrison bank and another charging him with possessing methamphetamine.

The request for a fitness evaluation was made by Hicks’ attorney, Janet Buttron, and will be completed by psychologist Jayne Braden. Mertes did not grant Buttron’s request to have Braden evaluate Hicks to determine Hicks’ mental state at the time of the alleged offense. That motion was continued.

Hicks, 37, is charged with one count each of robbery and theft by threat in connection with the July 5 robbery of Community State Bank, 220 E. Main St., Morrison.

Hicks is accused of producing a note at the bank about 11 a.m. July 5, demanding money and threatening to kill the teller if she did not provide it, Whiteside County Assistant State’s Attorney Ryan Simon said during Hicks’ July 7 court appearance. Simon said Hicks left with $2,000 before police arrived.

Simon said the note linked Hicks to the robbery, telling the court that the demand for cash was written on the back of a restaurant receipt that bore Hicks’ signature on the front. An abandoned cellphone also was found at the same restaurant where the receipt came from. A waitress reported to police that she had found the cellphone, which Simon said belonged to Hicks. Hicks’ image also was captured on bank surveillance video, Simon said.

Hicks was found later July 5 in Sterling with a lot of cash, a bike, computer equipment including a new laptop, multiple cellphones and liquor that he had just bought at the Sterling Walmart, Simon said during the July 7 court appearance.

Hicks denied being in Morrison, but police said they think he had been staying at a house in Morrison on July 4 and had been kicked out. Hicks told police he had been drinking moonshine overnight, was still drunk and wanted an attorney.

The methamphetamine charge in the other case accuses Hicks of possessing 1.6 grams of meth when Rock Falls police arrested him on a Lee County contempt warrant June 16 at the Walmart in Rock Falls.

Buttron on Monday asked Mertes to allow Hicks to be released from the Whiteside County Jail on pretrial release conditions. Mertes denied that request.

Hicks’ next court appearance is set for 1 p.m. Sept. 17.