Trial set for bank robbery suspect

A 27-year-old Mammoth Lakes man pleaded not guilty Monday to five felonies in connection with the armed robbery of the Minden Bank of America branch in November 2005.

District Judge Michael Gibbons set a trial date of Jan. 16, 2007.

Steven Simmons is charged with robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm with the serial number changed, altered, removed or obliterated, and grand larceny.

He is accused of taking $4,807 from the Minden bank branch at gunpoint Nov. 22, 2005.

There were no injuries.

Simmons was captured about 45 minutes after the robbery, and the money was recovered.

Gibbons appointed lawyer Tod Young to take over Simmons' case in light of the upcoming retirement of court-appointed attorney Terri Roeser, who has represented Simmons since his arrest.

Simmons told Gibbons there was a possibility he would hire a lawyer, but the judge appointed Young until that time.

Prosecutor Derrick Lopez said the state expected to call 24 witnesses and estimated the trial would take eight days.

Simmons has been in Douglas County Jail since his arrest on $250,000 bail.

n A Gardnerville man who admitted he failed to register as a sex offender was sentenced Monday to 60 days in Douglas County Jail.

William Pinkelman, 38, was arrested in July at Tillman and Kimmerling after a deputy stopped him because his vehicle had an expired registration.

Records indicate he was convicted March 13, 1996, in San Jose, Calif., of having sex with a minor under 16.

He is considered a Tier 2 level sex offender which indicates a moderate risk to reoffend.

Pinkelman reportedly told the deputy he knew he needed to register in January but "hadn't got around to it yet."

According to records, Pinkelman had registered in the six previous years since he moved to Douglas County in 1999.

He told authorities he was in California on a personal matter and the date slipped his memory.

He pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge.