U.S. Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
|
|
U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation |
|
|
| In Reply, Please Refer to Release No. |
219 South Dearborn Street Chicago, Illinois 60604 |
|
|
|
November 6, 2003 Suspect Arrested in West Side Bank Robbery Thomas J. Kneir, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Philip J. Cline, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and Michael F. Sheahan, Cook County Sheriff announced today the arrest of LEE STRONG, age 39, whose address is unknown. STRONG was taken into custody earlier today, without incident, by CPD Officers responding to a robbery alarm at the National Republic Bank, 1201 West Harrison in Chicago. He was subsequently turned over to the Chicago FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF). According to witnesses, STRONG entered the bank at approximately 12:30 this afternoon. He stood in the main lobby until he was approached by a uniformed security officer, employed by the bank. At that time, STRONG pulled a handgun and announced a robbery. He forced the Security Officer behind the teller's counter and ordered him to fill with cash, a back pack that he had brought with him into the bank. When the Security Officer was unable to open several of the teller drawers, STRONG fired his weapon at the Officer, grazing him in the chest. STRONG then apparently heard the sirens of approaching police cars and fled the bank through the front door. He was confronted outside by two CPD Officers, who arrested him without incident. STRONG is believed to have been driven to the bank by a second individual, identity unknown, in a taxi cab that was reported stolen from Chicago's west side, earlier in the day. The cab belongs to the Blue Cab Company, located in Forest Park, Illinois, and has Illinois Taxi license plate 9455 TX. The cab and its driver fled the area ahead of responding police officers and has not yet been located. STRONG will be charged in a criminal complaint filed tomorrow inU.S. District Court in Chicago with one (1) count of Bank Robbery, which is a felony offense. STRONG will be housed overnight at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Chicago and will appear before a U.S. Magistrate Judge, late tomorrow morning. STRONG, who was recently released from state prison in Mississippi, is also suspected of involvement in at least two other bank robberies in Chicago, during the past two weeks. Under federal law, armed Bank Robbery carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years incarceration. The bank Security Officer wounded during the robbery has been treated and released. No other injuries were reported. The public is asked to be on the look out for the missing taxi cab and should contact either their local police or the Chicago FBI with any information about this robbery. The Chicago FBI's VCTF is comprised of FBI Special Agents, Detectives from the CPD and Investigators from the Cook County Sheriff's Department. 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 against STRONG will be available tomorrow afternoon from the Chicago FBI Press Office at (312) 786-2645. |
