Suspect expected to plead guilty
The man who police say robbed a Boulder City bank March 5 is expected to plead guilty to one count of robbery with a deadly weapon.
Gerald Bickford, 35, waived his preliminary hearing in Boulder City Justice Court on Tuesday, and will be arraigned in District Court on April 9.
Bickford was counseled by Judge Victor Miller that by waiving his preliminary hearing the case would be resolved in District Court, where he is expected to plead guilty.
According to Boulder City Police Sgt. Aaron Johnson, Gerald Bickford entered the Nevada State Bank at 1000 Nevada Way about 9 a.m. and told the teller he was armed. Bickford left the bank with $840, Johnson said, and drove north on U.S. Highway 95 before being pursued by Nevada Highway Patrol.
Bickford, who Johnson said was driving a red Dodge Charger with Maine license plates, then exited near U.S. 95 and Martin Luther King Boulevard when NHP tried to pull him over.
Johnson said Bickford fled on foot, but was apprehended by Boulder City Police about 10 a.m. near Rancho Drive and Charleston Boulevard.
Johnson said the out-of-state license plates were not registered to the car that Bickford was driving.
According to WMUR-TV in Portsmouth, N.H., Bickford is wanted in connection to a Feb. 2 grocery store robbery.
Boulder City Police Chief Bill Conger said he’s confident that Bickford will serve time in Nevada before he’s extradited to face New Hampshire charges.
The Boulder City bank robbery, Conger said, was the city’s first in the past five years.
Sgt. John Peracchi of the Portsmouth Police Department said it plans on working out the extradition details with its county attorney.
“We have an active arrest warrant for him,” he said. “Likely, he’ll serve time out there (in Nevada) first and then we’ll wait in line for him, but that’s something we’ll work out.”
Peracchi said an undisclosed amount of money was taken from the grocery store in Portsmouth. It is still unknown if Bickford committed any other crime in between New Hampshire and Nevada.
Contact reporter Steven Slivka at sslivka@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow @StevenSlivka on Twitter.
