Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton announced charges on Thursday against five individuals related to a string of violent armed robberies in three local communities over the last two plus years.

According to police investigations, between July 2010 and March 2013, these individuals robbed at least 17 different banks and businesses in the City of Flint, Flint Twp and Mt. Morris Twp. It was a robbery of a Citizens Bank on Linden Road and Court Street in Flint Twp, and the arrest of the suspects in that case, that helped authorities put it all together.

Leyton said "all of these individuals are related to one another and investigators have referred to the criminal enterprise as the 'family business.'"

Leytong has charged:

  • Thomas Gatica III of Flint with 37 felony counts including armed robbery and conducting criminal enterprises.
  • Albert Luther Read Sr. of Flint with seven felony counts including armed robbery and various weapons offenses.
  • Albert Luther Read Jr. of Flint with 17 felony counts including armed robbery and conducting criminal enterprises.
  • Ardis Read of Flint with 40 felony counts including armed robbery and various weapons charges.
  • Archie Lee Williams is charged with 22 felony counts including armed robbery and conducting criminal enterprises.

During each of the robberies, at least two of the individuals now charged were involved and various combinations of the five worked together during any one incident.

Leyton credited the workings of the Genesee County Detectives Association for helping to solve the cases saying " the detectives from all local jurisdictions work very hard in a cooperative effort to solve crime throughout Genesee County."

Four of the five charged are presently in custody either in the county jail or in prison while the fifth, Archie Lee Williams, remains at large. They will be arraigned in 67th and 68th District Courts where pre-trials and preliminary examinations will be scheduled.

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