Iowa City robbery suspect tells police he robbed 10 banks

UPDATE: An Iowa City man arrested Thursday night following a robbery has confessed to a series of other robberies stretching across Eastern Iowa, according to Iowa City police.

Jay M. Harkless, 23, was arrested after Rent-a-Center, 1214 S. Gilbert St., was robbed at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

During a search of Harkless' residence at 840 Maggard St. Apt. 10, officers found items they believed linked him to 10 bank and credit union robberies in Iowa City, North Liberty, Cedar Falls, Waterloo and Muscatine, according to a news release. Harkless confessed to all 11 of the robberies, police said.

Harkless has been charged in Iowa City with second-degree robbery for the Rent-a-Center robbery and for robberies last year at West Bank, 1910 Lower Muscatine Rd., and Midwest One Bank, 1906 Keokuk St., according to police.

The Cedar Falls Police Department said in a news release Harkless would be charged later today with five counts of second-degree robbery for incidents there in 2008 and 2009.

Charges for the other alleged robberies are expected in the near future, according to Iowa City Police Sgt. Denise Brotherton.

She said Harkless also may face federal charges. Police departments in the five cities where the robberies occurred have been working with the FBI and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Cedar Falls police said Harkless lived there in 2008 and early 2009. The University of Iowa directory lists a Jay M. Harkless of 840 Maggard St. Apt. 10 as a student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, with a permanent address in Cedar Falls.

Brotherton said it's believed Harkless acted alone.

“At this time, it looks like it's him,” she said.

A victim in the Rent-a-Center robbery reported that a white man handed an employee a note demanding money. Following the robbery, but before it was reported, an Iowa City police officer recalled seeing a suspicious vehicle leaving the area and wrote down the license plate. This led officers to Harkless' residence. He consented to a search, according to the news release, and officers found money consistent in denomination with what was stolen, and narcotics.

Harkless was arrested for possession of marijuana and brought to the police station, where an interviewer got him to confess to the other robberies, Brotherton said.

“It's good old-fashioned police work,” she said.

He is being held in Johnson County Jail on a $155,000 cash-only bond.

The bank robberies in Iowa City and North Liberty occurred in 2009, according to Gazette archives. A weapon was not displayed in any of them, and in each the suspect was described as wearing a disguise that included a wig.

Brotherton said she did not know how much money was stolen in the robberies. Search warrants should be returned early next week, she said.

The Gazette's John McGlothlen contributed to this report.