Cottage Grove Man Admits To Woodbury Bank Robbery, 2 Others

WOODBURY, MN — A Cottage Grove man pleaded guilty last week after police said he committed a string of bank robberies last year in the Twin Cities metro, including one in Woodbury, federal prosecutors said.

Michael Prall, 43, was charged in January with three counts of bank robbery after police alleged he “used force, violence and intimidation” as he stole almost $8,000 from three banks over a four-week span in November.

Prall pleaded guilty to one count March 22 but admitted to all three bank robberies as part of his plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota.

Prall admitted to stealing $2,558 from a U.S. Bank in Bloomington on Nov. 5 and robbing $4,589 from a Bremer Bank location in Woodbury two weeks later.

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He was also accused of robbing a Wells Fargo bank in Cottage Grove of $775 on Nov. 30.

Prall passed a note to a Wells Fargo teller that said he was robbing the bank and would shoot them if they didn’t act quickly, according to his plea agreement.

Charging documents do not indicate Prall was armed during any of the robberies.

The Cottage Grove Police Department said it was called around 3:10 p.m. Nov. 30 after a man robbed the Wells Fargo bank on East Point Douglas Road and fled with cash.

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Officers searched the area for about 20 minutes before finding a man who matched the suspect’s description in the 9400 block of Jeffery Avenue, the department said.

The man — who police only identified at the time as a 43-year-old from Cottage Grove — was arrested and taken to Washington County jail after being treated for minor injuries by paramedics, police said.

Police seized $802 from Prall when he was arrested, as well as a safe and its contents from his home, according to the plea agreement.

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A date has not yet been set for Prall's sentencing. Sentencing guidelines indicate Prall should serve less than six years in prison and face a fine of $15,000-$150,000, the agreement states.

Federal prosecutors said they will not push for a sentence of more than five years in prison, according to the plea agreement.

He has also agreed to pay restitution to all three banks, prosecutors said.

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