The FBI outsmarted the suspected "Red Line Robber" -- alleged to have robbed at least nine banks along the CTA line this past year -- by lifting his fingerprints near the scene of the crime, the G-Men said today.
Roseland's own Lance Dennie, 44, was charged with one count of bank robbery in connection with a stick up job at a Charter One Bank at 33 W. Grand Ave. on June 8.
At that bank, according to an FBI affidavit, the robber told a teller he wanted to open a checking account. When the teller directed him to a desk in the lobby, he said he didn't want the account and lifted his shirt to show a handgun in his waistband.
"You don't want to get shot, do you," the robber said to the teller, or something like it, according to the affidavit.
The tellers were then directed to put cash in a black plastic bag, but one snuck a dye back in as well. According to Breaking News Center:
The robber then grabbed a newspaper he had set on a counter and left through the bank through an employee entrance in the back of the building, the affidavit said.
When law enforcement officials arrived a few minutes later, they viewed surveillance video of the robbery and canvassed the alley behind the bank, where they found a newspaper and $195 in a trash bin, according to the affidavit. Both were stained with dye.
Investigators focused on Dennie after they matched fingerprints left on the items from the bin to his. Dennie was arrested at his home in the 10700 block of South King Drive on Friday.
Investigators believe Dennie took more than $10,000 in cash during the robbery, the FBI said. It was unclear if the money was recovered.
They believe Dennie was responsible for eight other robberies, though he is currently only charged in the June 8 incident.
A federal magistrate today denied him bond. He is being held in the Metropolitan Corrections Center in Chicago and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
