Armed Bank Robber Used Dealership Car In Northbrook Bank Heist: FBI

NORTHBROOK, IL — A Waukegan man accused of robbing a Northbrook bank at gunpoint last month was ordered detained in federal court Monday, according to the FBI. Francisco Martinez, 24, of the 800 block of Glenwood Avenue, has been charged in connection with a July 15 robbery in which a masked man with a silver gun entered the Fifth Third Bank branch at 240 Skokie Blvd. shortly before 2 p.m.

The robber, dressed all in black with a Bulls hat and sunglasses, entered the bank with a handgun and demanded money from a teller, who pulled out the drawer and put it on the counter. The gunman stuffed an undisclosed amount of cash into an Adidas backpack. Warning bank staff not to call police, he told the teller something like, "I can kill someone," according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Herbert Hogberg.

Witnesses saw the black-clad figure exit the bank after fewer than 30 seconds inside. He took off running to a line of nearby bushes where a black Chevrolet Malibu was parked, the affidavit said. The man then got into the passenger side of the Malibu, which had green license plates issued by a car dealership. The car had "Libertyville," "Courtesy Vehicle" and a Chevrolet logo written on its driver's side door. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Northbrook — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Investigators quickly had a pretty good idea that the getaway car was a loaner from Libertyville Chevrolet, so they contacted the dealership and, by process of elimination, accounted for all other black Impala and Malibu loaners other than one checked out by Martinez using a Fifth Third Bank card on July 1, the agent wrote.

Investigators requested the dealership use a ruse to bring Martinez back, so it contacted him on July 20 and asked him to return for a new loaner car because of a "safety recall" on the one he was driving. He came in immediately and was soon interviewed by investigators.

Martinez told law enforcement that he had been at home on the day of the robbery before leaving to do some laundry at his mother's house, running some errands, filling up his gas tank and then heading to court-ordered domestic violence counseling classes at 2:30 p.m. The FBI said investigators checked out his story and learned he had shown up to class at 3 p.m. that day, 30 minutes late and about an hour after the bank robbery.

On July 21, one of the witnesses to the robbery picked out Martinez in a photo lineup, according to the FBI.

On Aug. 3, investigators got a hold of the records of which cellular towers Martinez's AT&T cell phone had connected with. According to Hogberg's affidavit, his phone contacted towers just a few hundred feet from the bank during the time of the robbery.

The FBI thanked police departments from Northbrook, Vernon Hills and Libertyville for their assistance with the investigation.

Top photo: Image captured from surveillance video of the July 15 robbery of the Northbrook Fifth Third Bank branch | via FBI