Suspect Arrested within Minutes of Melrose Park Bank Robbery

A Chicago man who had just robbed a Melrose Park bank was arrested as he attempted to drive away from the scene of the robbery. The arrest and subsequent federal charge were announced today by Cory B. Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Gary Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Eric Murchinson, age 43, was charged in a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count of bank robbery, which is a felony offense. He appeared late yesterday before Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason and was ordered held pending his next court appearance.

According to the complaint, Murchinson walked into a Fifth Third Bank branch located at 2501 West North Avenue in Melrose Park just after 10:30 a.m. He approached a teller in the bank and inquired about purchasing a vehicle sticker. The complaint states Murchinson then demanded cash and indicated that he had a weapon, although no weapon was displayed during the robbery. After the teller provided him with cash, Murchinson left the bank and was seen by witnesses at a nearby business driving from the scene. Some of these witnesses then alerted a nearby on-duty Melrose Police Department officer, who confronted Murchinson at the intersection of North Avenue and 25th Avenue. Murchinson allegedly attempted to flee the scene but was taken into custody by the MPD officer when his car ran into another in the intersection. He was subsequently turned over to the FBI.

If convicted of the charge filed against him, Murchinson faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

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.