Bank Robber Caught More Than 20 Miles Away Thanks To GPS
Updated 08/17/11 - 3:17 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man who allegedly robbed a bank in Evanston was caught more than 20 miles away in the South Chicago neighborhood, thanks to a tracking device. A second person who was in the car with the suspect was also taken into custody.
Around 11 a.m. Wednesday, a man robbed the Bank of America Branch at 1336 Chicago Ave., just north of Dempster Street, FBI spokeswoman Cynthia Yates said. Evanston police said the suspect, a black man in his 40s, was wearing a stocking cap, white button-down shirt and dark pants.
The robber handed the teller a note demanding money and the teller gave the robber an undetermined amount of cash.
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He made off with a bag of money, but it had a GPS tracking device embedded inside, police said.
The FBI and Chicago police tracked the vehicle south on Lake Shore Drive after the bank robbery, police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak said.
A witness, Luis Baltazar, was driving on Lake Shore Drive around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, and watched as the police roadblocks stopped cars on the southbound Drive between Irving Park Road and Montrose Avenue.
"There were tactical officers going through, kind of car to car, talking to people, talking to drivers and their passengers in their cars," Baltazar said.
Finally, the suspect was caught in the 8100 block of South Yates Boulevard around noon, Kubiak said. No one was hurt when the suspect was arrested. Another person was also in the car with the bank robbery suspect and that person was also taken into custody for further investigation.
Money and a weapon were recovered, police said.
Both suspects' identities were being withheld pending charges. Evanston Police, Chicago Police and the FBI were investigating.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
