Feds: 'Hooded Bandit' Has Been Captured
(STMW) -- The "Hooded Bandit," whom authorities suspect of robbing nine northwest suburban banks over the past three years, was arrested Thursday, according to the FBI.
Rolling Meadows resident Edward G. Klich, 62, is charged with one count of bank robbery, according to a federal criminal complaint. Authorities had called him the "Hooded Bandit" because he often wore hoods during the alleged robberies.
Kilch was arrested Thursday after robbing a U.S. Bank branch in Wood Dale, authorities claim. Kilch walked into the bank branch at 333 E. Irving Park Road about 11:48 a.m., and a teller "immediately recognized" him as the same person who robbed the branch in November 2013, the complaint said.
Kilch announced the robbery and demanded 100s and 50s from the teller, authorities claim. Before leaving the bank with $2,354, he said to the teller, "You'll see me again," the complaint said.
Officers responding to the robbery spotted a green 1995 Buick Le Sabre near the bank, which had been identified as one used in recent bank robberies nearby, the complaint said.
Police chased after him but Kilch did not stop the vehicle, the complaint said. At some point, Kilch stopped the car, got out and ran toward officers while pointing a pen covered in a black hood at them, authorities allege. He was eventually arrested.
Kilch later admitted to police he had robbed the U.S. bank and eight others in the northwest suburbs, including:
-First Merit Bank, 900 E. Higgins Road in Elk Grove Village on Sept. 3;
-Chase Bank, 133 W. Grand Ave in Bensenville on April 7;
-Chase Bank, 123 Main St. in Bensenville on Dec. 9, 2013;
-Charter One Bank, 3901 Kirchoff Road in Rolling Meadows on Dec. 2, 2013 and April 19, 2013;
-Charter One Bank, 333 E. Irving Park Road in Wood Dale on Nov. 15, 2013;
-BMO Harris Bank, 130 W. Devon Ave. in Wood Dale on Feb. 15, 2013;
-Chase Bank, 2641 Kirchoff Road in Rolling Meadows on July 28, 2011
Kilch, of the 3200 block of Peacock Lane in Rolling Meadows, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, authorities said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)