A Lansing man facing local charges connected to a Brighton area bank robbery is set to go to trial in November.

Earlier this year, 33-year-old Brian Dewayne Ali Jr. was found competent to stand trial. His trial is scheduled to begin November 6th, but will be preceded by a final settlement conference November 3rd.

Ali is facing 14 charges as a result of the April 2016 armed robbery of the PNC Bank located on West Grand River in Genoa Township. Court documents indicate Ali disguised himself by dressing as a woman and wearing makeup and a wig. Authorities say he entered the bank brandishing a handgun and what appeared to be a bomb and announced a robbery. Afterward, he fled in a blue Ford Mustang with an undisclosed amount of cash. He was later arrested in Lansing. Search warrants were conducted at several locations, and evidence – including cash believed to have been taken during the bank robbery – was recovered.

Ali is charged in that case as a habitual offender and faces five counts of armed robbery, four counts of bank robbery and four counts of unlawful imprisonment. He is also facing ten federal charges connected to six armed robberies that occurred in Oakland and Macomb counties between December 2015 and February of 2016. Motions in the federal indictment are due by September 22nd and a jury trial in that case has been scheduled in October. (DK)