THREE ARRESTED IN SOUTHSIDE BANK ROBBERY

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Jody P. Weis, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (CPD); and Thomas Dart, Cook County Sheriff, announced today the arrest of three men in connection with the October 28 th armed “take-over” robbery of the Charter One Bank branch, located at 1357 West 103 rd Street in Chicago.

DAVID L. NEWTON, age 29, of 7549 South Yates in Chicago; SEAN D. SMITH, age 27, of 521 West 155 th Place in Calumet City; and CHARLES M. SMITH, age 37, of 10232 South Forest Avenue in Chicago, were all charged in a criminal complaint filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count of Bank Robbery, which is a felony offense.

According to the complaint, NEWTON and SEAN SMITH entered the Charter One Bank just after 9:00 AM, brandishing handguns and announcing a robbery. They disarmed a security guard, fired a shot into the ceiling and ordered employees and customers to the floor. With NEWTON standing watch, SEAN SMITH is alleged to have jumped the teller counter and obtained cash from several teller drawers, eventually totaling over $35,000. The money was placed into a black bag that the robbers brought with them. Included in the cash taken was a red security dye pack. The two robbers then fled the area in a waiting SUV, later determined to have been driven by CHARLES SMITH.

Responding CPD officers located an SUV matching the description of the get-away vehicle near the bank. NEWTON and SEAN SMITH were found nearby, hiding under a porch. Evidence linking them to the robbery was also discovered. Both men were taken into custody at the scene and eventually turned over to the Chicago FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF).

Subsequent investigation by the VCTF located CHARLES SMITH, who was taken into custody, without incident.

All three men appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan, late yesterday, at which time they were formally charged. They were ordered held without bond, pending their next scheduled court appearance, and are being housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Chicago. If convicted of the charges filed against them, all three men face a possible sentence of up to twenty (20) years in prison.

The Chicago FBI’s VCTF is comprised of FBI Special Agents, Detectives from the CPD, and Investigators from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police 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 in this case is available from the Chicago FBI’s press office at (312) 829-1199.

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