Man accused of trying to rob two banks in one day

A 22-year-old Milwaukee resident who sparked an Ozaukee County manhunt, forced the lockdown of schools in Grafton and crashed his car into another vehicle as he fled last week is now charged with attempting to rob two banks.

In addition to two counts of attempted robbery of a financial institution, Sydkeeri Mays-Hughes, who at the time of his arrest was on probation for a weapons conviction in Ozaukee County last year, is charged with felony counts of possession of a firearm by a felon and hit and run. He also faces a misdemeanor count of resisting an officer. 

According to a criminal complaint, at 9:46 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, Grafton police officer Patrick Brock was called to the Grafton branch of Port Washington State Bank, where he was told by employees that a masked man attempted to enter the bank through a locked service door, then walked in through the main entrance.

The man, who authorities later identified as Mays-Hughes, apparently was spooked by a motion-activated bell in the vestibule that alerts tellers to someone entering the bank and fled on foot, the complaint states.

Two tellers told authorities they saw the man enter the bank and noticed he kept one hand in his sweatshirt pocket as though he was concealing something. One teller said the aggressive manner in which the man opened the door to the bank and because he appeared to be holding something in his pocket, as well as the way he was dressed, led him to believe the bank was being robbed, according to the complaint.

Surveillance video showed the man was wearing a black ski mask, gloves, a black hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants.

Grafton High School, which is next to the bank, and nearby St. Joseph Parish School were locked down for several hours.

At 12:13 p.m., about two hours after the Grafton incident, Cedarburg police officer Tony Jones received a report of a robbery in progress at the Cedarburg branch of Port Washington State Bank. Surveillance video showed a man wearing the same clothing as the suspect in the Grafton incident enter the bank while reaching toward his waistband to grab what appeared to be a handgun, the complaint states.

Multiple employees and customers were in the bank at the time and reported that the man said, “This is a robbery” and “No one move” and asked, “Where’s the money at?” according to the complaint.

After a minute or two, the man ran out of the bank and toward Immanuel Lutheran  Church. A dark-colored sedan was recorded leaving the church parking lot at 12:13 p.m. According to Department of Transportation records, it was a gray Chevrolet Cruz registered to Mays-Hughes, the complaint states.

At 2:20 p.m., Brock was again dispatched to the Grafton bank, this time for a report of a man wearing all black hiding between cars in the parking lot. Officers could not find anyone, but six minutes later the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a person reporting a crash at the intersection of 17th Avenue and Falls Road in Grafton. The driver of a vehicle, who was westbound on Falls Road, said she was hit by a black sedan on 17th Avenue that blew a stop sign. The woman’s vehicle suffered significant damage, and the car that hit her lost a wheel but drove off westbound with a fender hanging off. 

The car was seen by witnesses and recorded on video driving through the parking lot of a McDonald’s restaurant before entering the parking lot of Ollie’s and Blain’s Farm & Fleet at the corner of Falls Road and Wisconsin Avenue in Grafton.

Eventually, Mays-Hughes got out of the car and was walking toward Ollie’s when he was spotted by Grafton Police Chief Jeff Caponera. Several police vehicles surrounded Mays-Hughes, who ignored orders from officers to stop and put his hands behind his back, then struggled with officers before being handcuffed and arrested, according to the complaint. 

Officers who searched Mays-Hughes’ car after obtaining a warrant found a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson handgun and 15 rounds of ammunition on the passenger-side floorboard. Black gloves and a black sweatshirt, as well as items such as credit cards and traffic citations linking the vehicle to Mays-Hughes, were also found in the car, the complaint states.

Mays-Hughes, who is charged as a repeat offender, was convicted in October 2025 in Ozaukee County Circuit Court of possessing a machine gun. On Nov. 20, 2025, Judge Adam Gerol withheld a sentence, placed him on probation for three years and ordered him to serve four months in jail as a condition of probation.

Gerol also ordered Mays-Hughes not to possess guns or body armor, maintain absolute sobriety and not to possess intoxicants or drug paraphernalia.

That case dates to March 4, 2025, when at 3:41 a.m. officers were called to Rockwell Automation in Mequon for a trespassing complaint and found Mays-Hughes, who said he was having problems with his car and had been getting Lyft rides to different locations to charge his phone.

Officers had contact with Mays-Hughes hours before after he walked into a Mequon dance studio and said his car was broken down and he needed to charge his phone.

While talking with officers at Rockwell Automation, Mays-Hughes asked for a ride to Kwik Trip. An officer agreed to give him a ride but said he would first have to pat him down. When asked by the officer if he had a weapon, Mays-Hughes said no but later admitted he had a gun. Officers found a loaded Glock 17 Gen 5 9mm handgun in his waistband, according to the complaint filed in that case.

Mays-Hughes claimed to have a concealed carry permit, but after records showed he did not, he was arrested.

At the Ozaukee County jail in Port Washington, a fanny pack Mays-Hughes was wearing was searched and in it deputies found an extended magazine for the Glock 17 that contained 14 hollow-point rounds. Also found in the pack was a sear device, which essentially turns semi-automatic guns, specifically Glock models, into automatic weapons, the complaint states.

Officers also searched Mays-Hughes’ car after a police dog indicated there were drugs in it. They noticed the car smelled like marijuana and found a bag of it in the vehicle. 

In the back seat of the car, officers found an AR-15 assault rifle-style gun, which was not loaded, according to the complaint.

Mays-Hughes was also charged with two misdemeanor counts of carrying a concealed weapon and possession of marijuana, but those charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. They were, however, read into the record, which means Gerol could consider the facts surrounding them when sentencing him.

During a hearing last week, Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Sandy Williams set bail for May-Hughes at $150,000 in connection with the latest charges he faces.