GPS Tracking Device Leads to Arrest of Evanston Bank Robbery Suspect

Criminal charges were filed today against a Michigan man, charged with the robbery yesterday morning of an Evanston, Illinois bank, announced Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Mr. Grant was joined in announcing the charges by Richard Eddington, Chief of the Evanston Police Department (EPD); and Garry F. McCarthy, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (CPD).

LAWRENCE M. BROWN, age 50, whose last known address was in Michigan, was charged in a criminal complaint filed earlier today in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count of Bank Robbery, which is a felony offense. BROWN was arrested yesterday afternoon, without incident, by Evanston and Chicago Police officers near 81st Street and South Yates Avenue in Chicago. Officers were able to locate and apprehend BROWN by utilizing a GPS tracking device to follow a signal emitted from a transmitter included in the robbery proceeds.

According to the complaint, a lone robber, subsequently identified as BROWN, entered the Bank of America branch, located at 1336 Chicago Avenue and approached a teller. He handed her a note announcing a robbery then verbally demanded cash from her drawer. After receiving nearly $4,000 in bank funds, the robber fled the bank, walking out of sight of witnesses. No weapon was displayed during the robbery and no injuries were reported.

Responding EPD officers obtained a description of the robber and learned that a GPS tracking device had been included in the money taken during the theft. They then began tracking the robber utilizing a handheld GPS unit, and were joined in the search by CPD officers.

Subsequent investigation by the FBI and EPD developed additional evidence linking BROWN to the robbery and resulting in the charges which were field today.

In announcing the charges filed today, Mr. Grant noted the combined efforts of the Evanston and Chicago Police Departments in tracking and apprehending a potentially dangerous robbery suspect. Said Mr. Grant, “The cooperation and professionalism displayed in solving this case is typical of what routinely happens throughout the country but often goes unnoticed by the public. The residents of Evanston and Chicago should be proud of their police departments and the men and women who serve them daily.”

BROWN appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason in Chicago, earlier today, at which time he was formally charged. BROWN was ordered held without bond, pending his next scheduled court appearance. Until then, he will be held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. If convicted of the charge filed against him, BROWN faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years’ incarceration.

Additional information about this and other Chicago area bank robberies, including downloadable photographs, is available on the Bandit Tracker Chicago website, www.bandittrackerchicago.com.

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.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A copy of the criminal complaint filed in this case is available from the Chicago FBI press office at (312) 829-1199.