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Man accused in Park Ridge bank heist; suspected in others
Updated: January 14, 2013 6:22AM
Suspected serial bank robber Kenneth White has been arrested by the FBI in connection with the Nov. 9 robbery of a Harris Bank in Park Ridge.
The 34-year-old Hoffman Estates man also is suspected of robbing several Northwest Side Chicago and suburban banks, including the Dec. 3 robbery of the MB Financial Bank at 2200 N. Waukegan Road in Glenview, according to the FBI.
White was arrested without incident Thursday at his apartment at 754 West Bode Circle, Hoffman Estates, authorities announced Friday. A criminal complaint against White was filed Nov. 15 in U.S. District Court in Chicago, according to a statement by Thomas R. Trautmann, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Chicago field office, and Gary S. Shapiro, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
According to the felony complaint, White entered the Harris Bank branch at 615 Busse Highway Nov. 9, presented a note to a teller announcing a robbery and left the bank with $3,816.
The complaint alleges the person shown in bank surveillance photos from the Harris Bank bore a resemblance to the robber of two other banks. The first was TCF Bank, 1415 Algonquin Road, Rolling Meadows, which was robbed Oct. 26, and the other was the Popular Community Bank, 7181 West Irving Park Road, Chicago, which was robbed Nov. 5.
Agents also determined a man matching White’s description attempted to enter the Brickyard Bank, 3536 W. Dempster St., in Skokie, on Nov. 1 but was denied entry by bank personnel because they thought his behavior was suspicious.
Brickyard personnel called the FBI and provided surveillance system images of the man.
When agents compared his height, build and style of clothing to images of the bank robber at other banks, they deduced he was the same person.
Those surveillance photos and additional investigation led to the identification of White and the filing of the charge against him, the FBI said.
White is also suspected of robbing TCF Bank, 2301 N. Harlem Ave., Chicago, on Nov. 15, and Glenview State Bank, 1801 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, on Nov. 23.
White was formally charged Friday during a hearing before Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim. He remains in federal custody pending his next court appearance, which has not yet been scheduled.
If convicted, White faces up to 20 years in prison.
