Tip From Lowe's Employee Leads to Arrest of Arlington Heights Bank Robber

A 37-year-old Arlington Heights man has been charged in connection with a bank robbery after a cashier at a Lowe’s home improvement store provided a tip that lead police to arrest the local man, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

John P. Stossel, of the 300 block of West Tanglewood Drive, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on a federal charge of bank robbery. He is accused of robbing the TCF Bank branch at 440 East Rand Road in Arlington Heights on Nov. 9, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation press release.

The cashier at the Lowe’s in Arlington Heights saw a surveillance photo of the suspect in the robbery published in a newspaper and thought the man looked familiar, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He recalled a man who acted suspiciously on Nov. 8 while in the store and tried to pick up an online order placed under an incorrect name.

Video surveillance at the store “confirmed the cashier’s suspicions” and also was able to capture the suspect’s vehicle license plate, which was provided to police, according to the article.

Stossel is accused of entering the TCF Bank just after 10 a.m. on Nov. 9. He indicated he was armed, although no weapon was displayed, and and approached a bank employee and made a threatening demand for money, according to the FBI.