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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

February 9, 2004 Two Charged Following River Forest Bank Robbery Thomas J. Kneir, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today the arrest of CHARLOTTA A. PRITCHETT, age 35, and ARCHIE N. SMITH, age 46, both of whom reside at 307 North Kilbourn in Chicago. PRITCHETT and SMITH were arrested Friday afternoon, without incident, by Officers of the Oak Park, Illinois Police Department, who were responding to a radio dispatch of a robbery at the TCF Bank branch, located at 800 North Harlem Avenue in River Forest, Illinois. Both PRITCHETT and SMITH were charged in a criminal complaint filed Saturday in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count of Bank Robbery, which is a felony offense. According to the complaint, PRITCHETT and SMITH entered the bank shortly before noon and approached a teller, announcing a robbery and demanding money. SMITH, who was armed with and displayed a handgun, threatened the teller with harm, if their demand for money was not met. After obtaining nearly $3,000.00 in cash, they fled the bank on foot, entering a vehicle that was parked nearby. No injuries were reported during the robbery. Several witnesses to the robbery saw PRITCHETT and SMITH as they fled the bank, and obtained a description of the vehicle that they used for their escape, including the license plate number. This description was broadcast over police radio communications by River Forest Police Officers, who responded to the robbery call. Officers in neighboring Oak Park, who were on routine patrol, heard the radio dispatch and confronted PRITCHETT and SMITH as they arrived at their residence. PRITCHETT and SMITH were eventually turned over to the FBI and were housed overnight at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Chicago. In announcing this arrest, Mr. Kneir expressed his appreciation to the officers of the River Forest and Oak Park Police Departments, for their prompt response to this robbery and the professional manner in which they worked together to solve this crime. Both PRITCHETT and SMITH appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin A. Bobrick on Saturday afternoon, at which time they were ordered held without bond, pending their next scheduled court appearance. If convicted of the charge against them, PRITCHETT and SMITH face a possible sentence of up to 20 years incarceration. 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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