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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 11, 2002

St. Charles Bank Robbery Suspect Arrested

Thomas J. Kneir, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Kenneth R. Ramsey, Kane County Sheriff and Donald G. Shaw, Chief of the St. Charles Police Department announced today the arrest of JAMES D. ERWIN, age 41, of West Chicago, Illinois. ERWIN was arrested in connection with the robbery, earlier today, of the West Suburban Bank branch located at 3000 East Main Street in St. Charles.

According to witnesses, ERWIN entered the bank branch at approximately 9:00 AM, approached a teller and handed her a note announcing a robbery. The note implied that he was armed, though no weapon was displayed and no injuries were reported. After being given in excess of three thousand dollars, ERWIN fled the bank and entered a vehicle that was parked nearby, which he used to make his escape.

Witnesses who saw the robbery were able to get a description of the vehicle, which was given to responding St. Charles Police Officers. A Kane County Sheriff's Deputy, who was on routine patrol, heard a radio dispatch about the robbery and spotted ERWIN and the vehicle approximately 2 miles from the bank. ERWIN allegedly refused to stop and led Kane County Deputies and St. Charles Officers on a high-speed chase that lasted over 20 minutes and reached speeds in excess of 70 miles per hour. The chase ended when ERWIN crashed his vehicle into a retention pond in South Barrington, with pursuing officers arresting him at the scene.

ERWIN was turned over to the FBI and was charged in a criminal complaint filed earlier today in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count of bank robbery, a felony offense that carries a maximum penalty of up to twenty (20) years in prison. ERWIN was ordered held without bond, pending his next scheduled court appearance, by Magistrate Judge Edward A. Bobrick.

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.

EDITORS NOTE: A copy of the complaint filed in this case is available from the FBI Press Office at (312) 786-2645.




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