Man Charged in Park Ridge Bank Robbery

By Pam DeFiglio

UPDATE: Patch.com has learned that the arrestee, Anthony Nugent, was charged with aggravated assault, a Class 3 felony, last August, when he grabbed a 16-year-old girl, threw her to the ground and began ripping her shorts.  At that time, Nugent lived in Park Ridge; he has since moved to Morton Grove, according to Commander Jason Leavitt of the Park Ridge Police Department. 

ORIGINAL STORY:

The man dressed all in white and wielding a hammer who robbed a TCF bank in Park  Ridge Monday morning has been arrested and charged, announced Cory B. Nelson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago field office of the FBI, and Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, in a statement.

Anthony Nugent, 38, of the 8900 block of Mango Street in Morton Grove, was charged with one count of bank robbery, a felony offense, in a criminal complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court.  

He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys to be formally charged, and he remains in federal custody pending his next court appearance, Monday, August 12, at 2 p.m.

According to the complaint, the robber entered the bank’s branch located at 1 West Devon Avenue in Park Ridge just after 9:15 a.m. Monday morning and, while holding a hammer over his head, demanded money from a teller.  The complaint states that the robber was given money and a dye pack by the teller, and that he left the scene in a late-model black Ford Mustang.  

Earlier: Park Ridge bank robbed Monday morning

The robber was later identified as Nugent by a woman who met briefly with Nugent the same day as the robbery, as well as by another person who was with Nugent the following day, both of whom noted that Nugent was in possession of dye-stained money.  Nugent was arrested without incident at his residence on Wednesday. 

Nelson expressed his thanks to the Park Ridge Police Department for their assistance in the investigation of the robbery and the arrest of Nugent.

If convicted of the charge filed against him, Nugent faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The public is reminded that a criminal complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, the statement said.