Charges Announced in Connection with Homewood Bank Robbery

CHICAGO—Charges were filed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago against two individuals who allegedly robbed the Bank of America branch at 18460 Governors Highway in Homewood yesterday morning. The charges were announced by Robert J. Holley, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Malcolm Carpenter, 32, of Chicago, and Justin Williams, 23, of Calumet Park, were arrested yesterday afternoon without incident by law enforcement officials following a manhunt conducted by the FBI, the South Suburban Emergency Response Team, and the Homewood Police Department. They appeared this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole, and both were ordered held pending their next scheduled court appearances. While no date was announced for Carpenter’s next appearance, Williams is scheduled to return to court next Tuesday, December 10, at 9:00 a.m.

According to the criminal complaint, which charged both men with one count of bank robbery, Carpenter and Williams entered the bank just after 10:30 yesterday morning and, armed with handguns, confronted bank employees. The complaint states that one of the robbers took the manager to the bank’s vault, and once the vault was opened with the assistance of another bank employee, the robber ordered the manager to fill a bag with money from the vault. That same robber allegedly also ordered a bank teller to place the contents of the teller’s drawer into the same bag, after which the two robbers walked out the bank.

A witness reported to law enforcement that two individuals were seen running toward a nearby apartment building, and a search of the building and the surrounding area led to the arrests of Carpenter and Williams in the parking lot of the building. Following the arrests, agents and officers recovered a bag matching the description of the bag used during the robbery and containing U.S. currency. Two semi-automatic handguns were also recovered.

The investigation into yesterday’s robbery is ongoing.

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.