A Conroe Police Department veteran accused of robbing a Montgomery County bank where he also worked as a security guard was released on $100,000 bail Wednesday, but with conditions.

Michael Edward Tindall, who appeared in a federal courtroom Wednesday afternoon, must wear an electronic monitoring device, surrender his weapons and seek mental health counseling. Tindall, a 22-year veteran of the Conroe Police Department, said he has seven or eight guns.

After the hearing, a dozen news crews with cameras followed him outside the courthouse as he walked to a waiting car that drove him away.

“You guys know I can’t say anything,” he said.

No comment
His family members walked with him and they also declined to comment.

His defense attorney, Robert Scardino, said the case is weak because no physical evidence links him to the bank robbery.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment after the hearing.

Arrested on Tuesday, Tindall is accused of stealing more than $28,000 from the First Bank of Conroe last August, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is charged with one count of bank robbery. Tindall was off-duty when the bank was robbed, police said.

Investigators say co-workers from the bank and the Police Department recognized Tindall as the thief on surveillance videotapes that captured the robbery even though he wore gloves, a white helmet with a clear visor, aviator-style sunglasses, a dark-colored jacket or shirt, blue jeans and athletic shoes.

He has been suspended without pay, said Conroe Police Chief Charlie Ray.

If convicted, Tindall faces up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.