Father-Son Team Charged with Two West Suburban Bank Robberies

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was joined today by Mark W. Field, Chief of the Wheaton, Illinois Police Department (WPD) and David E. Dial, Chief of the Naperville, Illinois Police Department (NPD) in announcing the arrest of two men in connection with the armed robberies, earlier this month, of two west suburban banks.

LOUIS H. EARLY, age 51, of Dewitt, New York and his son, LOUIS S. EARLY, age 26, of 2200 Cherry Court in Lisle, Illinois were both charged in a criminal complaint filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count each of Bank Robbery, which is a felony offense. The charge relates to the March 18th robbery of the TCF Bank branch, located in the Danada Square Shopping Center in Wheaton.

The senior EARLY was arrested on March 21, 2009 by Officers of the Cayuga County, New York Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) on unrelated state charges. The junior Early was arrested yesterday morning at his residence, without incident, by FBI Special Agents.

According to the complaint, FBI Agents in Chicago and Officers of the NPD were investigating the March 9th robbery of the Fifth Third Bank branch, located at 1311 Ridgeland in Naperville, when the same unidentified individual was believed to have struck again, robbing the TCF Bank branch in Wheaton. Both robberies remained unsolved until LOUIS H. EARLY’s arrest in New York. After being taken into custody, Sheriff’s Investigators discovered evidence linking the senior EARLY to the Wheaton robbery. Subsequent investigation by the FBI and CCSO developed additional evidence linking both men to the two robberies and resulting in the charges announced today.

The complaint alleges that the junior EARLY acted as a get-away driver for his father in the Naperville robbery and helped with the planning of the Wheaton robbery, selecting both a date and time when the son, who was an Assistant Branch Manager, would be on duty.

In announcing the arrests, Mr. Grant recognized Cayuga County Sheriff David S. Gould and the officers of his department for the professional manner in which they conducted their investigation. Said Mr. Grant “These arrests show once again the importance of an effective working relationship between federal and local law enforcement agencies in combating violent crime.”

LOUIS S. EARLY appeared yesterday before United States Magistrate Judge Sidney I. Schenkier in Chicago, at which time he was formally charged. The junior EARLY was ordered held without bond, pending his next scheduled court appearance, and is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Chicago. LOUIS H. EARLY is in state custody in New York, pending his removal to Chicago to face the charge filed here. If convicted of the charge filed against them, both men face a possible sentence of up to (20) years incarceration.

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

EDITOR’S NOTE: Copies of the criminal complaint filed in this case are available from the Chicago FBI’s press office at (312) 829-1199.