By Mary Corrado
Editor
A man approached the TCF bank teller at 3630 N. Southport Ave. at 8:40 a.m. March 24. “Give me all the money. I have a gun. I want 100s down,” he told her. The teller inserted a dye pack into the money and placed the money into his hand; his hand was wrapped in Saran Wrap. He placed the money into his coat pocket and fled.
The teller told responding officers that she had seen the man just before the robbery, asking for 25-cent bag of chips; she had told him to go to Osco and he then left and returned. The teller recalled a tattoo on the man's neck. Videotapes were given to the FBI.
Police learned that a subject fitting the offender’s description had been in the store the previous day acting suspiciously. At that time the store manager noted that the subject’s vehicle had a temporary license plate on the rear and a regular plate on the front, and he recorded the numbers. Officers traced these numbers and discovered that the driver had been arrested on prior occasions—and that he had a tattoo on his neck.
They visited the home address with detectives, arrested Leeotis Baily, 33, and transported him to Area 3. When asked about the proceeds, the offender said he hid them under some rocks by a telephone pole behind a church located at Augusta Blvd. and Homan Ave. The officers relocated to that area and found said money, stained with red dye. Responding officers also observed that the offender had a red stain on his shirt and on his socks. When asked about his pants, the subject said they were stained so he took them off and put them in his closet. |
