The Comcast employee accused of robbing a Portland, Ore., check-cashing store of $3,000 and clubbing a clerk in the head pleaded not guilty Friday to counts of attempted aggravated murder, assault, robbery and kidnapping.
Michael Clarence Hagen, who had worked for Comcast for five years, appeared at his arraignment via a video hookup from jail, where he is being held on $1 million bond, according to The Oregonian. His trial date has tentatively been set for Aug. 31.
Comcast, in a statement last week, said it was "appalled" by the situation and that it was cooperating with law enforcement officials.
On July 8, Hagen - wearing a Comcast uniform - allegedly cut the phone lines of Ace Checks Cashed in southeast Portland to trick the employee into allowing him behind the store's locked partition. He then bound and gagged the 37-year-old woman, beat her with a crowbar and then fled the scene in a Comcast van, according to police.
Hagen also was indicted on two counts of attempted theft for trying to rob another area check-cashing business on July 6 and 7, The Oregonian reported. Police said he wasn't wearing a Comcast uniform during those incidents.
