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U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation

In Reply, Please Refer to Release No.

219 South Dearborn Street Chicago, Illinois 60604

January 21, 2003 Four Arrested Following Olympia Fields Bank Robbery Thomas J. Kneir, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Jeff L. Chudwin, Chief of the Olympia Fields, Illinois Police department, announced today the arrest of four (4) individuals in connection with the January 16th robbery of a TCF Bank branch, located at 2500 West Lincoln Highway in Olympia Fields. Three of those in custody are identified as WILLIAM E. FINLEY, age 20, of 3500 Fontainebleau Drive in Hazel Crest, Illinois; DAJ THOMAS, age 29, of 3430 Elysees in Hazel Crest; and LORENZO THOMAS, age 20, of 7109 South Eberhardt in Chicago. The fourth individual is a 16 year-old juvenile, whose identity cannot be released. LORENZO THOMAS and the Juvenile were arrested by Olympia Fields Police Officers, responding to the robbery. DAJ THOMAS and FINLEY were arrested early Saturday morning in Robbins, Illinois, following a brief vehicle chase, by officers assigned to the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force (SSMCTF). The SSMCTF is comprised of Officers and Detectives from numerous south suburban Police Departments, the Cook County Sheriff's Department and the Illinois State Police. FINLEY and the two THOMAS', who are not related, were charged in a criminal complaint filed earlier today in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count each of bank robbery, which is a felony offense. According to the complaint, FINLEY, DAJ THOMAS and the Juvenile entered the bank at approximately 7:45 PM. The Juvenile and THOMAS served as a lookouts while FINLEY approached a teller armed with a handgun and demanded money. After receiving $9352.00 in cash, the three men fled the bank into waiting vehicles. One vehicle, driven by LORENZO THOMAS, was stopped by responding officers while DAJ THOMAS and FINLEY escaped in a second vehicle. Subsequent investigation identified DAJ THOMAS and FINLEY as the other robbers. FINLEY and the THOMAS' were turned over to the FBI following their arrest while the Juvenile remains in state custody. FINLEY and the THOMAS' appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan in Chicago, earlier today, at which time they were ordered held without bond pending their next scheduled court appearance on Friday. If convicted of the charges, all three men face a maximum of twenty (20) years in custody. FINLEY was also charged in a criminal complaint filed late last year with the November 22, 2002 robbery of a TCF Bank branch in Hickory Hills, Illinois. Additionally, the FBI is investigating to determine if FINLEY or the THOMAS' were involved in any of the 12 unsolved robberies of TCF Banks that have occurred in the south suburbs and northwest Indiana since August of 2002. The public is reminded that a 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. EDITOR's NOTE: A copy of the complaint filed in this case is available from the Chicago FBI Press Office at (312) 786-2645.

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