MANCHESTER — A fifth person charged in connection with the Dec. 19 robbery of the Northeast Credit Union, 340 Wilson St., was arraigned Tuesday in Circuit Court-Manchester District Division.

Merry Beth Miner, 34, of 70 Academy St., Laconia, could enter no plea to a felony charge of criminal liability to robbery, so a probable cause hearing was set for Feb. 14. Bail was set at $50,000 cash/surety.

Still to be arraigned in connection with the credit union robbery is Katie Falls, 28, of 20 True Road, Meredith. Court documents show she told police she drove the accused robbers — Miner and three people previously arraigned in connection with the robbery — on a scouting trip to Manchester the previous Friday.

Walter Williams, 43, and Prince Sage, 27, were charged with robbery, and Shyloe Johnson, 24, of Gilford, was charged with criminal liability.

Falls, who is being held in Belknap County Jail on a criminal liability charge for being the getaway driver for the $200,000 robbery of the Kay Jewelers store in the Tanger Outlet Mall in Tilton Nov. 4, told police Williams and Johnson were involved in that robbery, too.

Documents show Miner told police different stories at different times but admitted she and Johnson scouted the credit union the Friday before the robbery, with Johnson obtaining quarter coin wrappers as an excuse to be there and Miner sniffing candles and picking up a lollipop.

Falls said Williams, who has three previous bank robbery convictions, wanted the women to find out how many employees worked in the office, where the vault was, whether the doors locked automatically and other useful information. She said there was conversation about what to look for inside the bank.

Falls said that after the women returned to the car, Miner asked Williams what direction they would run after the robbery.

The following Monday, Miner told police, she, Williams, Sage and Johnson, drove from Laconia to Manchester, with Scott Perreault, 25, of Laconia, at the wheel. Perreault told police Williams offered, and later paid him, $100 for the trip.

Miner told police that after a brief bathroom stop at Walmart, they drove to the area of the Northeast Credit Union and parked off Valley Street.

Miner said Williams, Sage and Johnson got out of the car and walked off, although Johnson went only to the corner and returned. About five minutes later, Miner estimated, Williams and Sage returned with the duffle bag. She said they were walking as if nothing had happened. The quintet then returned to Laconia.

Perreault, who said he had figured Williams was going to buy drugs or rob a drug dealer, said there was no mention of a bank robbery, and he dropped everybody off at a house in Laconia.

Miner said Williams and Johnson took the duffle into a bedroom and let no one else into the room, slamming the door when Miner tried to open it to get a cigarette from Johnson. Miner said she later caught a glimpse of a black handgun on the floor of the room, on top of a pink blanket.

During the credit union robbery, shortly after 12:30 p.m. Dec. 19, two men entered the office wearing masks and while one man held a gun on the customers and tellers, the other scooped money from teller drawers and took more from the vault. The armed robber also took cash from a customer in line and the two men then fled with nearly $60,000 in the duffle bag.

Miner insisted all she got out of the trip and the robbery was groceries purchased for her by Johnson. She said Johnson gave both of her daughters $100. One daughters got 100 $1 bills and the other, five $20 bills.

Manchester bank holdup linked to Tilton jewelry heist