Jul 16, 2008 12:31 pm US/Central
'Groucho' Bank Robber Arrested In North Side Bar
CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
-
-
Surveillance cameras caught images of the "Groucho Bandit" on the North Side.
Surveillance Image
A man suspected of being the "Groucho Bandit" serial bank robber was arrested Tuesday outside a North Side bar after a bartender recognized him from a newspaper photo, authorities said.
Katy Campbell, a bartender at The Other Side Bar, 2434 N. Clark, said that about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, she and a friend were reading a newspaper story about the robber wanted in at least nine holdups of North Side banks who wore a fake Groucho Marx-type mustache.
They agreed that the surveillance photo in the paper looked like a man they knew as Michael, a regular customer. He was sitting in the bar enjoying a Heineken.
Campbell said a manager called police. "They said to just keep him in the bar -- give him all the free drinks or whatever he wants, but keep him here," Campbell said, repeating what her manager told her.
The suspect was scheduled for an initial court appearance late Wednesday morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow, according to FBI spokeswoman Cynthia Yates.
In the most-recent robbery, Saturday at the Chase Bank branch at 1240 W. Belmont Ave., the man entered the bank and approached the teller. He claimed to be armed and threatened the employee with harm if his demands were not met.
After he got an undisclosed amount of cash, the robber fled on foot, disappearing into the passing crowd, according to an FBI release. As in the prior robberies, no weapon was displayed and no injuries reported.
Campbell said the suspect, who drank at the bar three to four times a week, had told her that he was 38, worked in the commercial real estate business, was divorced, lived in the Gold Coast and had traveled the world.
"He didn't seem harmful. He was a genuinely nice guy," she said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Celebrity Watcher: Real Or Fake?
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
