New Lenox Man Suspected of Robbing 13 Banks Around Chicago Captured

Caption: Cicero Police booking photo for Rodrigo Medellin, 31. The FBI believes Medellin may the “No Boundaries Bandit” responsible for at least a dozen bank robberies in the Chicago region.

By Joseph Hosey | Patch Editor

A New Lenox man suspected of at least 13 recent Chicago-area bank robberies was captured in Cicero. Rodrigo Medellin, 31, was only charged with one of those bank robberies following his arrest Sunday afternoon following a brief car and foot chase involving Cicero police.

Medellin allegedly robbed the Washington Federal Bank branch at 2869 South Archer Avenue in Chicago on June 11.

The FBI believes Medellin is responsible for a dozen more bank robberies dating back to May 16. Since the robberies were all over the Chicago area, the FBI came up with the nickname “No Boundaries Bandit” for the culprit.

According to the federal complaint, Medellin was first identified in July as a possible suspect by an “individual” after he was shown bank surveillance photos from numerous other bank robberies believed committed by the No Boundaries Bandit. The individual also spoke of interacting with Medellin in June, where he “bragged” about robbing banks.

Medellin’s parole officer also identified him as potentially being the “No Boundaries” bandit after being showed surveillance photos from the FBI-run website BanditTrackerChicago, the complaint said.

The FBI also stated that a family member of Medellin contacted law enforcement and said that Medellin “could be” the serial bank robber after seeing an image from the robbery of a Chase Bank branch at 100 W. North Ave. in Northlake on Aug. 15.

The relative said the image was a “dead on” match for Medellin after viewing the story of the Aug. 15 robbery on local news, according to the federal complaint.

A sealed complaint was filed in federal court on Aug. 25 naming Medellin as the serial bank bandit allegedly responsible for the dozen robberies,

After Medellin was identified, FBI agents said that he was picked out of a photo lineup by a teller at Washington Federal. An employee in the June 24 robbery of the Chase Bank branch at 1700 N. Wells St. in Chicago, also identified Medellin from a photograph, according to the federal complaint.

The latest in the No Boundaries Bandit’s string of robberies happened Thursday at a Berwyn PNC Bank on Ogden Avenue. The other banks the FBI believes Medellin robbed—but have not gone so far as to charge him with robbing—are in Burbank, Stickney, Melrose Park, Northlake, North Riverside and River Forest.

Medellin was arrested Sunday afternoon in Cicero after police there claimed they identified him as the suspect after viewing bank surveillance images and from his suspected involvement with local street gangs.

Cicero police began checking Medellin’s known hangouts, eventually tracking him to Broadview near Roosevelt and 18th Street. He was apprehended and arrested around 3 p.m. Sunday. The FBI was immediately notified. Medellin was found in possession of a Tec 9 automatic weapon with a 30-round magazine, police said in a news advisory.

On Tuesday, the Cicero Police Department announced that they had apprehended the man sought by the FBI as a serial bank robber, but the FBI would only say that a suspect was in custody. The federal charges were announced Wednesday.

Medellin faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted of robbing the Washington Federal on Archer. He absconded with $4,160 in the heist, according to a criminal complaint filed against him in federal court.

Patch editor Lorraine Swanson contributed to this report. This story has been updated with new information.