COLUMBIA CITY - Jeffrey R. Zoll of Warsaw pleaded guilty Tuesday in Whitley Circuit Court to one count of armed robbery with a deadly weapon, a Class B felony, and one count of resisting law enforcement, a Class D felony.

Zoll, 49, also was charged with theft, a Class D felony, after robbing the South Whitley branch of First Federal Savings Bank of Wabash on April 18.

During the court hearing, Zoll admitted having a gun during the robbery and handing employees a sack in which to put the money.

After robbing the bank, Zoll fled South Whitley on Ind. 14 before being involved in a three-county high-speed chase that ended on Covington Road in Allen County. Zoll's vehicle was blocked in a driveway by several police cars, two of which Zoll reportedly rammed.

Sentencing in this case is set for June 26 before Whitley Circuit Court Judge James Heuer.

Zoll also faces charges in Kosciusko County in connection with the Jan. 7 robbery of the Leesburg branch of Farmers State Bank. In that case, Zoll is accused of entering the Leesburg bank and demanding money before fleeing with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The vehicle used in the robbery was reported to have been taken for a test drive from a local car lot and was returned after the robbery. At the time of the South Whitley robbery, Zoll was out on bond from the Kosciusko County robbery.

A pretrial conference set for Wednesday in Kosciusko Circuit Court was continued until 9 a.m. June 16 because Zoll's court-appointed attorney was unavailable to attend. Tom Earhart of Reed & Earhart, Warsaw, filed notice of an alibi defense on March 14 in Zoll's case.

Zoll also is a suspect in several other area robberies, but no other charges have been filed. No arrests have been made in the March 16 robbery of the Pierceton Discount Package Liquor store or the April 3 robbery of the Pierceton branch of Lake City Bank. Recent robberies in South Whitley, Huntington and North Manchester also remain unsolved. [[In-content Ad]]