Evanston police and FBI officials still are searching for a man they say stole $3,000 from an Evanston bank Wednesday night using a note that said he had a gun, police said.
The man, whom FBI officials are calling the “night stalker bandit,” entered Jewel Food Stores, 2485 Howard St., at about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday and approached a teller working at the TCF Bank branch located inside the store, said Cmdr. Michael Perry of the Evanston Police Department.
Perry said the robber then handed the bank employee a note that read, “I have a gun, you have 20 seconds to give me some money.”
The teller handed over the money, and the man fled on foot out the store’s east door, Perry said. No one was injured.
The Evanston bank was the fifth TCF branch hit since Oct. 17, said Mary Lynn Muha, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Chicago. The other four robberies also occurred in TCF branches inside Jewel Food Stores, and a note was slipped to the teller in each incident, she said.
“He’s been dubbed the ‘night stalker bandit’ because he stalks banks at night,” Muha said. “He goes into the bank, approaches the teller with a note saying that this is a robbery, demands money and implies he has a weapon, but none is ever displayed.”
The robber is believed to be responsible for bank heists at four Jewel Food Stores in Chicago: 5516 N. Clark St. on Oct. 17; 1210 N. Clark St. on Oct. 23; 4355 N. Sheridan Road on Oct. 29; and 4042 W. Foster St. on Nov. 5.
In each case, the thief has fled on foot, Muha said.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, about 25 years old, 5 foot 9 inches tall, between 170 and 185 pounds, with a clean-shaven face. The FBI is asking anyone who might recognize him in photos to contact a local police department or the FBI’s Chicago branch.
The combined amount of money taken from the five banks has not been determined, Muha said.
Dave Creel, the senior vice president of TCF Bank, declined to comment Thursday afternoon on the amount of money taken in the robberies.
Creel said the employees involved in the robberies thus far have followed the correct procedures as instructed by the bank in its training sessions. He said the bank has “good security measures” in place.
“Robberies are a fact of life in the banking business,” Creel said. “We do take these things extremely serious — that’s why we have special training for all our tellers and personnel for handling robberies.
“The TCF locations are as safe as any financial institution in the country,” he added.
Karen Ramos, a spokeswoman for Jewel Food Stores, said the company has implemented “extensive security measures” in all of its stores. She said the company has yet to consider using metal detectors at its doors.
“We are doing everything possible to make sure our customers continue to feel safe while they are shopping,” Ramos said. “Our concern is to ensure the safety and security of our customers and our associates.”
