Crime & Safety

Police: Search for Bank Robbery Suspect Ends in Air Duct

Oak Lawn Police confirm that bank robbery suspect is in custody after 11-hour standoff.

OUTSIDE CHICAGO, IL -- Police SWAT teams nabbed a man suspected of robbing an Oak Lawn bank on Saturday afternoon after an 11-hour standoff.

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Around 2:14 p.m. Saturday, Two bank employees were handcuffed with zip ties. The alleged bandit escaped through the ceiling with an undisclosed amount of cash, Oak Lawn Police Division Chief Michael Kaufmann said.

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Kaufmann confirmed that police had a person in custody around 1 a.m. Sunday.

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Kaufmann said that SWAT team members from the FBI and South Suburban Emergency Response Team located the bank robbery suspect trapped in an air duct after a methodical search of the ceiling on the second floor of the shopping center where the bank is located, Chicago Breaking News reported.

The alleged bandit was wedged so tight inside the duct that he had to be cut out, Kaufmann said.

Police believed the robbery suspect was still in the building because of that led to different parts the second floor.

Pulaski Road reopened around 1 a.m. after being closed for much of the afternoon and evening.

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