Updated:  Official Press Release Below

Oak Park Bank Robbed, Robbers Flee in Vehicle and On Foot.  Oak Park catches the runner....
by Ed Vincent

At or around 1:00 pm this afternoon several bank
robbers entered the Charter One bank at 6020 Roosevelt
Road in Oak Park.  They demanded money and an alarm
might very well have been activated because soon Oak
Park police and Chicago police were alerted to the robbery
in progress.  The robbers divided into groups when they left
the bank.  Some went in a car and some took off on foot.
Those on foot were apprehended by some of Oak Park’s
younger runners.  Those who left by car (two individuals)
fled to the area of 13th Street and Kostner in Chicago.


Chicago SWAT and Chicago police departments are on the
scene with officers from Oak Park at Chicago scene.  FBI
is also on the scene and interviewing the suspect apprehended
in Oak Park.


This same bank was robbed right before Christmas last year
in the late morning.  Two men robbed the bank that time, with guns drawn.  This time it was three men and some of
the tellers believe that it may have been the same men, or
one of the same men from the last robbery.  All the robbers were young (20 years plus) black men.  No one was injured
up to this point.


The largest bank robberies have come to the two local Chase Banks in the past couple of years, over $200,000.00 USC,
but these smaller Charter One’s on Roosevelt and the one
on Oak Park Avenue have also been popular.  There is also a reported increase in all thefts and banks correlated with the depressed economy.  It is not that those loosing  their jobs
are taking to bank robberies, but rather banks always have
money.  Stealing from your family for drugs and debts, and neighbors is more difficult with funds drying up due to unemployment---that the leaves the banks a more enticing target.

Official Press Release
Police quickly apprehend bank robbery suspect

March 10, 2009

Quick thinking by Oak Park Police officers has as suspect in custody in connection with a midday robbery of the Charter One Bank, 6020 Roosevelt Road at Austin Boulevard.

A 9-1-1 call of a robbery in progress at the bank brought Oak Park Police to the scene within moments. Officer Kristen Cook, driving an unmarked car, searched the immediate area and spotted a vehicle similar to a description provided by the bank's security guard stopped in an alley less than a block from the crime scene.

As she approached, the vehicle began moving, eventually making its way back to Roosevelt Road, then headed east at a normal rate of speed with Officer Cook following as she awaited backup. Oak Park Police Officer John Rumoro, driving a marked car, joined Cook in pursuit at Cicero Avenue.

The suspect vehicle then picked up speed, turned south onto Kolin Avenue and stopped at 13^th Street where the three individuals inside abandoned the car and fled on foot. One suspect was quickly apprehended by Officer Rumoro and officers from the Chicago Police Department who had joined the chase. The suspect, whose identity is being withheld at this time, was taken to the Oak Park Police Station, 123 Madison St., for questioning.

Police discovered that a dye pack in the money taken from the bank had exploded inside the suspect's car, likely marking the vehicle's other two occupants who are still at large. A significant amount of the money taken from the bank was later recovered by police.

According to bank employees, two African-American males had entered the bank at about 12:30 p.m., confronted a teller and demanded money. They fled on foot westbound on Roosevelt Road to Humphrey Avenue, where a car described as a gray Nissan Maxima, driven by the third individual was waiting.

The FBI and Oak Park Police are working jointly on the investigation.