Look Up Crime Stats in Your Community

Patch has created a searchable database of the FBI's recently released 2011 stats on violent crimes and property crimes.

The FBI recently released its 2011 Uniform Crime Report, which compiles information from local law enforcement about violent crimes and property crimes in their communities. Sign up for the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Use the pull-down menu to find your city or town. Violent crimes and property crimes are listed as totals, and are then broken down into several categories. Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault are all categories of violent crimes. Burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson are all categories of property crimes. For more crime data or a further explanation of the types of crimes listed, you can visit the FBI's website. Follow Oak Lawn Patch …

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Bank Robbed By Man With Fake Gun and Beard

An Evergreen Park bank was robbed by an armed man on Sept. 15. The FBI has released an image of the suspect.

Chicago Man Nabbed in Ohio on Hickory Hills Bank Robbery Charge, FBI Says

FBI said members of the public recognized alleged bank bandit from surveillance photos, who remains in federal custody in Ohio awaiting his return to Chicago.

The search for a Chicago man wanted for the July 26 robbery of a Hickory Hills bank ended at a bus station in Ohio. Subscribe to the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Members of the Ohio Violent Crimes Task Force arrested Jeffrey A. Kaplan, 30, without incident last Wednesday at bus station in Toledo, Ohio. Kaplan had been charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Chicago on one count of bank robbery on Aug. 1, the FBI said. According to the criminal complaint, Kaplan entered the TCF Bank branch located at 9357 S. Roberts Road in Hickory Hills on July 26 and approached the teller window. Kaplan allegedly made verbal demands and passed a note demanding money, handing the teller a black plastic bag…

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Armed Robber Hits Bank on Western Avenue

A lone man held up a First American Bank branch Monday morning.

Just after 9:30 a.m. a man in sunglasses and carrying a silver revolver entered the First American Bank branch at 11821 S. Western Ave. in Chicago. He announced the robbery and demanded cash from bank employees, according to the FBI. There were no reports of injuries.  The suspect is about 5-foot-ten, and was wearing dark clothing and a dark cap, the FBI said. He left on foot.   In security camera photos he is seen pointing the revolver over the counter of the bank.  Investigators ask anyone with information about today's robbery to call the FBI at 312-421-6700.  Read More Oak Lawn Police News: Follow us on Facebook and sign up for the email newsletter. 

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Police Seek Suspect In Thursday's TCF Bank Heist

Suspected bank robber spotted getting into driver's seat of older model Chrysler and driving away. Police said robber did not attempt conceal his face.

For the second time in less than a week an Oak Lawn Bank was robbed, this time a bank inside a supermarket. Subscribe to the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Oak Lawn Police said that at 9:18 a.m. Thursday a black male in his 20s walked up to the counter of TCF Bank inside the Jewel Food Store at 8801 S. Ridgeland. The robber passed a note to the teller implying that he was armed, but no weapon was displayed. The teller complied handing the robber an undetermined amount of cash. The bandit retrieved his note and fled on foot out the south entrance to Jewel. He is believed to have run east from there. Witnesses described the suspected robber as a black male in his early 20s, around five-feet-nine-inches tall, with …

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Lone Robber Heists TCF Bank at Jewel

FBI says robber slipped note to teller. No injuries reported. Not known yet if weapon was displayed.

The FBI reported that the TCF Bank branch inside the Jewel Food Store was robbed around 9:15 a.m. Thursday. Sign up for Oak Lawn Patch breaking news alerts. The robber entered the bank at 8801 S. Ridgeland Ave. and passed a note to the teller demanding cash. Witnesses said he fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash. It is not known at this time if the robber displayed a weapon. Witnesses described the bandit as a black male with a dark complexion and dreadlocks. He is approximately five-feet-eight-inches-tall with an average build. The FBI said he was wearing a black running jacket with white stripes on the sleeves at the time of the robbery. Anyone with information regarding this bank robbery is asked to call the Chicago office of…

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Bound and Gagged, Bank Employee Dialed 911 With Her Feet

Federal criminal complaint filed against man accused of robbing an Oak Lawn bank on Saturday recounts terrifying takeover robbery.

At the end of a busy Saturday, two employees at the Bank of America branch were finishing up their day by counting the proceeds inside the vault, unaware that someone was watching them from above through an opening in the roof. Within moments, a lone black male carrying a large gun entered the vault and ordered the employees—both women—to the floor. Thus began a takeover robbery that ended with both employees bound and gagged by the bandit, and a manhunt that would not end until early the next morning. Subscribe to the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. A federal criminal complaint sheds more light on this weekend’s bank robbery in Oak Lawn that saw police sharpshooters poised on the roofs of neighborhood homes in a …

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Oak Lawn Bank Robbery Suspect Charged in Federal Court

Police said a man connected to Saturday's robbery of the Bank of America branch in Oak Lawn has been charged with one count of robbery. Bank employees say they heard what sounded like the robber talking to another person outside the bank on a cell phone.

Criminal charges were filed against a Chicago man in connection with Saturday’s take-over robbery of the Bank of America branch at 4606 W. 111th St. SIGN UP for Oak Lawn Patch breaking news alerts. Charles B. Estell, 38, was charged with one count of bank robbery in federal court on Sunday morning. Estell was found stuck in an air duct after he apparently hid in the ceiling of a shopping center, Oak Lawn police said. More than 60 police officers and FBI agents spent eleven hours searching for the alleged bank bandit. They believed the robber to be hiding in the ceiling of the shopping center where the bank branch is located after finding a broken window in an upstairs office and a blood trail leading to different sections of the second …

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