A man was arrested in Elburn, Illinois, after fleeing from police following his alleged robbery of the LaPorte Savings Bank. On Friday, April 20th, deputies from the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office were called to the bank in response to a hold-up alarm. Within several seconds of the alarm, the LaPorte County Regional Dispatch Center received a telephone call from an employee of the bank who said that the bank had just been robbed at gunpoint, and he said that a single male had entered the bank with a handgun.
The suspect fled with an unknown amount of money, and was spotted traveling west along County Road 400 North in a tan SUV. No one was injured during the robbery.
Deputies arrived at the bank within one minute of the initial call. As the suspect was fleeing the scene, a Michigan City Police detective spotted the vehicle near the intersection of US Highway 421. An off-duty LaPorte County deputy, who was in his marked police vehicle, also spotted the vehicle and an attempt was made to stop the vehicle. Rather than stop, however, the suspect fled and, in the process, struck the deputy’s vehicle. The suspect fled to Interstate 94 and began traveling west at a high rate of speed, while he began throwing money out of the vehicle.
The pursuit continued west into the State of Illinois where the pursuit’s lead was assumed by the Illinois State Police. The driver continued to flee until he was captured in Elburn, Ill.
The Merrillville Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was immediately contacted and they have assumed the lead in this investigation. The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office is asking that anyone who located money along Interstate 94 to contact their local law enforcement agency so arrangements can be made to surrender it and return it to the bank.
