A Palos Heights bank was robbed over Memorial Day weekend to pay back embezzled money, federal officials say.
Navahcia Edwards, 23, was charged with holding up a TCF Bank at gunpoint in May while dressed as a nun and wearing a mask similar to those in the film “The Town.” Edwards and her unknown accomplice got away with $120,000 in cash from a bank where she once worked, according to authorities.
The former teller already faced bank embezzlement charges. Authorities accused her of stealing $20,000 in April from a Chase Bank branch in Country Club Hills where she worked. She promised to repay it, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Key clues led investigators to Edwards, according to the FBI.
Investigators claimed Edwards bought two “Adult Funny Nun Costumes” and two “Nun on the Run Adult” masks with a prepaid debit card. The card came from a currency exchange with a surveillance camera that allegedly captured the purchase, the paper reports.
That same debit card was swiped for a white zip tie purchased at a south suburban hardware store. The zip ties resembled the same ones the robbers used to restrain the TCF bank tellers, said federal authorities.
The so-called getaway car seen on security video looked like the one Edwards rented before the robbery, according to a criminal complaint.
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“It’s great physical and incidental evidence, but it took a great deal of effort to put all those pieces together,” said Chicago FBI Office Spokesperson Ross Rice.
