Robber In Custody For Rolling Meadows Bank Heist; Dropped Money Along Interstate
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A suspect is in custody following a bank robbery and police pursuit in suburban Rolling Meadows Saturday morning, according to the FBI.
An FBI official said the robbery occurred before 11 a.m. at Fifth Third Bank at 1801 Algonquin Road.
Kristopher Ripke described the dramatic scene he watched unfold outside his window earlier Saturday. There was a lot of shouting.
"First I heard a bunch of sirens flying by my window and I look out and a guy pulls up, (police) block him off from the front and they get out with their guns pointing at the car," Ripke said.
Ripke said police were telling the man to get out of his car with his hands up. He witnessed around 25 police cars at the scene.
The man police were attempting to arrest stole an undisclosed amount of cash from that Rolling Meadows bank some 13 miles away.
While it's unclear how much he stole, it is clear that he got rid of some of it while trying to make his getaway on the interstate.
Audio from police scanner traffic described the scene as hectic: "I'm stopped here at River Road. There's an expressway temporarily blocked. We have people picking up money, blocking the expressway."
Apparently, there was plenty of money blowing around on I-90 near O'Hare International Airport: "We've got all the evidence picked up that didn't blow away."
But while the loose money appears to have blocked the expressway for a time, it didn't stop police hot on the suspected bank robber's trail in the Edison Park-Park Ridge area.
"The guy was coming this way but the cops came around here. They blocked him in like really tight," Ripke said. "They turned left on Olmsted and completely blocked him off and swarmed him."
The suspect then gave up without a fight.
"The guy just willingly gave up. They arrested him, got him in the car and then they capped off the crime scene," Ripke said.
Meanwhile, police cleaned up what was left of the crime scene on the interstate miles away: "We're gonna head to the station and inventory some of this money."
According to police radio reports, the robber attempted to get away by driving through O'Hare.
He was driving a black Ford fusion that police say was reported stolen.
