Man charged with robbing Evanston bank; accused of several other bank heists and liquor thefts
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Zion man is charged with robbing an Evanston bank at knifepoint in August; and the FBI has said he also robbed six other banks in the city and suburbs over the past year, and stole liquor from three suburban grocery stores.
Haris Matchalovas, 39, is only charged with robbing a Huntington Bank branch in Evanston on Aug. 3, 2022, but an FBI affidavit says there is evidence he robbed six other banks in Chicago, Waukegan, Skokie, and Evanston, between November 2021 and August 2022, according to the FBI.
He stole a total of $35,815 in the seven bank robberies, according to an FBI affidavit.
Matchalovas, who lives with his parents in Zion, is believed to have used three different cars registered to his parents during the robberies. According to the FBI, he removed the license plate from each car during the robberies, but cell phone data linked him to each of the robberies.
According to the charges, Matchalovas approached a teller of the Huntington Bank in Evanston around 5:45 p.m. on Aug. 3, and said he wanted to make a withdrawal. When the teller asked for ID, Matchalovas thrust out his backpack and said, "shut up, put the money in the bag."
After the teller sent an instant message to the branch manager, bank manager, assistant manager, and another teller saying he was being robbed, another teller came up to intervene, and Matchalovas said, "since you are here you can empty your drawer too," then asked "what's taking so long? Hurry up," before coming behind the counter to retrieve money, when one of the tellers noticed he was carrying a knife.
One of the tellers removed approximately $318 from her drawer and gave it to Matchalovas, who ran off.
At the time of the robbery, Matchalovas was wearing a black zip-up Puma sweatshirt, a grey Champion t-shirt, grey gloves, blue scrubs pants, grey shoes with white accented soles, a black baseball hat with a red bill and a yellow and red logo on the front, and a blue surgical face mask.
Less than an hour after that bank robbery, Matchalovas was caught on video stealing five cases of cognac from a Costco in Mettawa, about 24 miles away. According to the FBI, he was caught on video at the Costco, wearing the same clothing and driving the same red Cadillac SRX from the Evanston bank robbery. Surveillance video showed what appeared to be an uninflated Winnie the Pooh kiddie pool in the trunk.
The same surveillance footage also revealed a tattoo of the word "Chicago" in cursive writing on his right forearm.
Six days later, Matchlovas stole $366 worth of liquor from a Walmart in Niles, and then stole four cases of liquor from a Costco in Glenview, according to the FBI. Again, he was driving the same Cadillac SRX from the Evanston robbery that day.
On Sept. 9, Gurnee police pulled over Matchlovas as he was again driving that Cadillac SRX without any license plates. He told police he had just picked up the car from a body shop and had not yet replaced the license plates, which were in his trunk, according to the FBI.
When officers asked him to open his trunk to retrieve the license plates and reattach them, officers spotted what appeared to be the uninflated Winnie the Pooh kiddie pool in the trunk. They also noticed the "Chicago" tattoo on his right forearm.
A warrant was issued for Matchlovas' arrest on Oct. 17, and he was taken into custody two days later. He made his first court appearance on Oct. 19, and remains in federal custody, and is due back in court on Wednesday.