Serial Robbery Suspect Arrested After Alert Bank Employees Notify Police

A Pittsburgh man suspected of robbing the same Chicago bank three times in the past month was arrested yesterday afternoon after employees in the bank saw him outside, apparently preparing to rob the bank a fourth time. Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), was joined today by Jody P. Weis, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (CPD), and Thomas Dart, Cook County Sheriff, in announcing the arrest of RANDOLPH NATHANIEL WALKER, age 59, who is believed to be a Pennsylvania native.

WALKER was arrested late yesterday afternoon, without incident, by CPD Officers who responded to a report of a suspicious man outside the TCF Bank branch, located at 120 South Riverside Plaza in Chicago. WALKER was charged in a criminal complaint filed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count of bank robbery, which is a felony offense. The charge relates to the May 10, 2010 robbery of the bank.

According to the complaint, WALKER entered the TCF Bank branch, approaching a teller and verbally announcing a robbery. The complaint also alleges that WALKER demanded all of the teller’s $50 and $100 bills and threatened her with harm if his demands were not met. After receiving approximately $4000 in cash, WALKER fled the bank on foot, disappearing into the passing crowd. WALKER claimed to be armed with a handgun, but no weapon was displayed and no injuries were reported.

Though not charged, WALKER is also suspected of robbing the same TCF Bank on two subsequent occasions, May 24 and June 14, 2010. He is also suspected of robbing the Fifth Third Bank branch, located at 233 South Wacker Drive, on June 14. Additional investigation by the VCTF led to the identification of WALKER as the robber and the filing of the charges announced today.

WALKER appeared before Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole in Chicago, earlier today, at which time he was formally charged. WALKER was ordered held without bond, pending his next court appearance which is scheduled for July 13. Until then, WALKER will be held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. If convicted of the charge filed against him, WALKER faces a possible sentence of up to twenty (20) years' incarceration.

This case was investigated by the Chicago FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force, which is comprised of FBI special agents, detectives from the Chicago Police Department, and investigators from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police.

Additional information about this and other recent Chicago area bank robberies, including downloadable photographs, is available at the Bandit Tracker web ite, 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.

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.