A 23-year-old Roseville woman accused of robbing five banks in roughly three weeks will remain in custody out of fear she will flee to Saudi Arabia, which has no extradition pact with the United States, according to court documents.
The ruling this week by U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Rau means that Ranya Al-Huthaili is still in the same Ramsey County jail where she was first booked upon her arrest at Rosedale Shopping Center on Sept. 10.
In agreeing with the prosecution that Al-Huthaili is a flight risk if released, Rau wrote that someone who recently became romantically involved with Al-Huthaili called the defendant's mother and asked whether Al-Huthaili could flee to Saudi Arabia to "make this all go away."
Al-Huthaili has passports issued by the United States and Saudi Arabia, and she is a citizen of both countries.
Along with concern that Al-Huthaili will flee the United States, Rau also noted in his detention order that the defendant has acknowledged robbing four of the banks. She has told authorities that she is hearing voices and has thoughts of harming herself.
Al-Huthaili was charged Sept. 12 in federal court in Madison, Wis., with robbing the Dairy State Bank on Sept. 9 in Menomonie, Wis., the last of the heists she's accused of pulling off. Surveillance photos from the robberies showed her wearing big black sunglasses.
The FBI believes she robbed the Klein Bank in Cologne, Minn., on Aug. 15; the First State Bank of Wyoming in Stacy, Minn., on Aug. 23; the TCF Bank in the Cub Foods on Broadway Avenue W. in Forest Lake on Sept. 1, and the First State Bank and Trust in Hudson, Wis., on Sept. 5.
Al-Huthaili, a 2008 graduate of Roseville High School, marked her 23rd birthday the day after the Stacy holdup.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
