Suspect to be evaluated for ability to stand trial

12/22/2001

BOWLING GREEN - A former Toledo man charged with robbing the Big Boy restaurant on East Wooster Street at knifepoint will be evaluated to see if he is competent to stand trial.

Robert Spiegel, 51, made the request yesterday before Judge Mark Reddin in Bowling Green Municipal Court. Spiegel is to be evaluated at the Court Diagnostic and Treatment Center, Toledo. Spiegel remains in the Wood County jail in lieu of $25,000 bond.

Spiegel, who was convicted of theft in May, 2000, for making off with $58,000 from the Cortes Corp., of which he was president, was arrested Dec. 12 at a local hotel in connection with the Big Boy robbery earlier that day.

He was identified by a restaurant worker who recognized him from a previous visit during which he used a service agency-issued voucher with Spiegel's name on it to pay for his food.