Fake Plates Lead To Man Charged With Halloween Bank Robbery
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man suspected of robbing an Orland Park bank on Halloween was arrested for driving with false license plates Thursday in south suburban Flossmoor.
Skye Perk, 30, is charged with bank robbery by intimidation for the hold-up of the Fifth Third Bank branch at 15330 Harlem Avenue in Orland Park, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court.
Perk entered the bank about 10:30 a.m. Oct. 31 wearing "a mask that appears to be an older white male," a black puffy jacket with a "First Down" logo on the left side of the chest, a scarf, light pants, light hat and sunglasses, according to court documents.
He walked up to a teller, tossed a note onto the counter to demand money and did not speak, prosecutors said. He was wearing gloves and kept his right hand in his pocket during the entire exchange.
The teller handed over $545 in cash and Perk ran out, according to the criminal complaint.
Perk was arrested in Flossmoor for a traffic violation Thursday when an officer noticed that the 2006 Ford Taurus he was driving had a rear license plate registered to a Mitsubishi and a front license plate registered to a Chevrolet, prosecutors said. The plates had been attached over the Ford's actual plates.
When the officer pulled the Ford over, Perk claimed he found the plates in the trash and put them over his own plates because he didn't have insurance, according to the criminal complaint. He was arrested for the traffic violation.
At the time of his arrest, Perk was wearing a jacket and other clothes similar to those worn during the bank robbery, according to prosecutors. When police searched the vehicle, they found a bag on the passenger-side floorboard containing "a realistic mask" identical to the one worn during the robbery, along with several hats and sunglasses. A notebook was found in the glove compartment, the top page of which had indented writing matching the note used during the bank robbery.
Perk, who lives in Orland Park, told investigators he had recently purchased the mask on Backpage.com for a Halloween party, according to court records. He claimed he had been in Champaign since "at least a few days before Halloween" and had attended a party there on Halloween night.
Perk appeared in federal court on Thursday for the bank robbery charge and was ordered detained pending a hearing next week, according to FBI spokesman Garrett Croon.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2017. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)