Robbers Force Woman, 81, To Withdraw $9,000 From Bank
UPDATED 10/28/11 5:47 a.m.
OAK LAWN (CBS) -- Police are seeking two suspects who allegedly terrified an 81-year-old woman and forced her to withdraw $9,000 in cash from a bank in south suburban Oak Lawn.
Police say the woman was loading grocery bags into her car after shopping at 95th Street and Pulaski Road around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, when she was kidnapped by a man and woman, and driven around to local banks under the threat that the suspects would kill her if she didn't cooperate.
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The offenders entered her car and the male placed an item hidden in a bag against the woman's head, implying it was a gun and told her to drive to her bank.
The victim drove to a bank at 95th Street and Pulaski Road in Oak Lawn, where she was forced to withdraw $9,000 in cash. She was then told to drive to another bank at 95th Street and Western Avenue, but the transaction there was denied when a teller became suspicious.
Police say the kidnappers got angry at that point.
"It's an awful experience; we all have parents," said Mike Kaufman, division chief of the Oak Lawn police.
The suspects eventually left the woman in her car back at the grocery store parking lot. She was unharmed.
Kaufman said complying with the assailants' demands was the best idea.
"She didn't fight them, which was probably a good thing, because they probably would have hurt her," he said. "She did the right thing. She went along with it, and she was able to get safely out of there without being harmed."
Police say the woman was so terrified by the incident that she didn't report it to police until Thursday morning, more than half a day after it happeend.
Oak Lawn police detectives are hoping an image from local video cameras will help in making an arrest.
