By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
TAYLOR — A 27-year-old Taylor man faces up to life in prison if convicted of any one of several armed robbery charges filed in two separate district courts.
Michael Joseph Sagi was in custody soon after a Dec. 6 armed robbery at Payless ShoeSource, 14336 Eureka Road. A robber with a black, semi-automatic handgun was seen leaving in a burgundy minivan, which Southgate police followed to Detroit and back to Taylor, where local police arrested him.
Sagi also was arraigned on Thursday by 23rd District Court Judge Geno Salomone on three counts of armed robbery. Prosecutors accused Sagi of November robberies at Subway, 11048 Allen Road; Speedway, 20011 Eureka Road; and Tim Hortons, 21399 Van Born Road, on Nov. 16.
Sagi is alleged to have used a handgun in at least one of those robberies.
In addition to last week’s charges Sagi remains a suspect in up to 15 robberies in Downriver communities including Riverview and Flat Rock. Warrants were being sought by various police agencies for additional robberies.
Sagi was taken into custody Monday by Taylor and Southgate police, with assistance from neighboring jurisdictions. Riverview police had obtained a description of a suspect believed to be Sagi following a Dec. 6 robbery at Subway, 18615 Fort St., in which a man showed a clerk a handgun before taking $410 from a register and leaving. Video images were soon made available on the Law Enforcement Information Network, and Taylor police confirmed having a suspect in custody.
Sagi previously was convicted of felony firearms and was discharged from prison in November 2012 after serving two years, according to state records
Sagi was held on bonds totaling $2 million — $500,000 for each count of armed robbery — and was scheduled for a preliminary examination ofthe evidence against him in 23rd District Court on Monday.
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected].)