TCF BANK ROBBERY SUSPECT ARRESTED

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was joined today by Steven Neubauer, Chief of Police, Elmhurst, Illinois Police Department, in announcing the arrest of a Berwyn, Illinois, man for the armed robbery yesterday of the TCF Bank branch, located at 944 South York, Elmhurst, Illinois.

HAROLD BECK, 57 years of age, 6525 Stanley, Berwyn, was arrested yesterday afternoon. According to the complaint, BECK entered the TCF Bank branch at around 11:03 a.m. Tuesday, March 16, 2010, handed the teller a note announcing a robbery and threatened harm if his demands for cash were not met. BECK implied he had a weapon, although none was observed. After receiving approximately $3,269 in cash, the robber fled the bank on foot.

One of the tellers observed BECK get into a green, older model Dodge minivan, and leave the bank parking lot. Within 15 minutes of the robbery, an officer of the Elmhurst Police Department received a radio dispatch describing the getaway vehicle and soon after spotted a minivan matching the description. The Officer stopped the vehicle. A person later identified as BECK was observed driving the green Dodge minivan and was later arrested.

Subsequent investigation by the Chicago FBI and the Elmhurst Police developed additional evidence linking BECK to the robbery and the filing of charges today. Though not charged, BECK is also the suspect of twelve other bank robberies in Chicago and the western suburbs dating back to December 2007. BECK appeared before Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole earlier today, at which time he was formerly charged. BECK was ordered held without bond pending his next court appearance and will be housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, Illinois. If convicted of the charge filed against him, BECK faces a sentence of up to twenty years incarceration.

Additional information about this and other recent Chicago area bank robberies, including downloadable photographs, is available at the Bandit Tracker website, www.bandittrackerchicago.com.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.