Yorkville Man Identified As 'Skinny Jeans' Bandit: FBI

Caption: Alleged serial bank robber dubbed the “Skinny Jeans Bandit” is believed responsible for five bank robberies. | BanditTrackerChicago.com.

A Yorkville man dubbed the “Skinny Jeans Bandit” and a suspect in five bank robberies was arrested Tuesday by federal agents in connection to a November 2014 bank robbery in Carol Stream, the FBI announced.

Eric Shepherd, 30, of the 1500 block of Orchid Street, appeared in federal court Tuesday afternoon where he was charged with one count of bank robbery. The FBI said that two tipsters identified Shepherd from bank surveillance photos released to the public earlier this month.

Earning his moniker because of his penchant for fancy jeans, Shepherd was the subject of a regional manhunt since heisting a bank in Carol Stream in November, federal agents said.

He is also suspected of robbing banks in Cary and Grayslake, and Crown Point and Valparaiso, IN. In the Valparaiso robbery, Shepherd left the bank without taking any money after growing impatient with a slow moving teller, reports said.

The FBI believes that Shepherd entered the BMO Harris branch at 850 W. Army Trail Road, Carol Stream on Nov. 21, 2014 and filled out a deposit slip as he waited for a bank teller to finish waiting on another customer at the drive-up window.

When the teller completed the task, the robber slipped the teller a note written on the back of the deposit with words to the effect of, “this is a bank robbery. Don’t give me a tracker and you won’t get hurt,” according to the criminal complaint.

The teller complied with the robber’s request and handed the robber approximately $4,200 in cash. The FBI alleges that Shepherd fled from the bank with the money and demand note.

Both the teller and other bank employees not involved in the robbery described the robber as a male Hispanic in his twenties, with short brown hair and a medium build.

In the weeks following the Carol Stream bank heist, a man resembling the suspect carried out three additional robberies in the Chicago suburbs and northwest Indiana, thus earning the nickname “Skinny Jeans Bandit” the complaint read.

The FBI began soliciting the public’s help in identifying the man by providing bank surveillance photos to the news media earlier this month. Two tipsters -- a family member and someone who had worked with Shepherd in the past year -- told FBI agents they believed the man in the photos was Eric Shepherd, the FBI said.

The FBI further reviewed a driver’s license photo provided by the Illinois Secretary of State of in which Shepherd is described as a 30-year-old, light skinned male with a brown buzz cut who appears to be African American, according to the complaint.

Authorities said that employees at the Carol Stream bank were also able to identify Shepherd from a photo array as the man who robbed the BMO Harris bank branch.

Shepherd is due back in court this Thursday. If convicted, he faces a possible jail sentence of up to 20 years.