FBI Chicago
Special Agent Siobhan Johnson
(312) 829-1199
October 22, 2014

Joliet Man Facing Federal Charge in Connection with Armed Bank Robbery

A Joliet man suspected of committing a recent armed bank robbery during which shots were fired within the bank was located and arrested yesterday morning by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officers from the Joliet Police Department. The arrest was announced today by Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI and Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

CARL P. WILSON, age 26, of the 200 block of Mound Street in Joliet, was taken into custody without incident during the course of a traffic stop conducted by Joliet police. He was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago this morning with one count of Bank Robbery, a felony offense, in connection with the Oct. 13, 2014, robbery of the First Midwest Bank branch located at 11200 West 143rd Street in Orland Park.

According to the complaint, a lone robber entered the First Midwest Bank branch just after 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 13th, armed with a semi-automatic handgun and wearing a hood on his head and a black cloth that covered a portion of his face, jumped over the teller counter and loudly made a threatening demand for money to a bank employee. As the employee walked to a cash dispenser, the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Chicago Field Office robber fired the gun at the employee, and the bullet struck a desk where the employee had been seated prior to the robbery, the complaint alleges. The complaint further alleges that a customer entered the bank as the robbery was in progress, and that the robber yelled at the customer and then fired the gun again, with the bullet striking the wall near where the customer had been standing just prior to the firing of the gun. Neither the bank employee nor the customer sustained physical injuries from the gunshots.

The complaint states that the robber grabbed the money from the cash dispenser, jumped back over the teller counter, yelled a profane greeting, and then left the bank. Subsequent investigation, including the analysis of fingerprint evidence, led to the identification of Wilson as the alleged robber and his arrest yesterday.

Wilson appeared this morning before United States Magistrate Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert, who ordered Wilson held pending his next court appearance, which has not yet been scheduled. If convicted of the charge filed against him, Wilson faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years’ incarceration.

In announcing the arrest and charge, Mr. Holley acknowledged the assistance provided by the Orland Park Police Department during the investigation of the robbery and by the Joliet Police Department in effecting the arrest of Wilson.

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.