Federal and International

FBI: Arrest Made in Connection with Niles Bank Robbery


Chicago, IL-(ENEWSPF)- A man sought in connection with the robbery of a bank in Niles on Saturday was arrested February 10 outside a hotel in North Chicago by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and detectives from the Niles Police Department. The arrest was announced February 11 by Cory B. Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Walter Unbehaun, 73, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, was charged in a criminal complaint filed February 11 in U.S. District Court with one count of bank robbery, a felony offense, in connection with the February 9, 2013 robbery of the Harris Bank branch located at 7077 West Dempster in Niles.

According to the complaint, Unbehaun drove to the area of the Niles bank Saturday morning and, upon entering the bank, approached a teller and presented a note announcing a robbery. The note was written on the back of a Harris Bank transaction slip. The complaint alleges he then made a verbal demand for money and told the teller that he had only six months to live and nothing to lose. He allegedly opened the jacket he wore during the robbery to reveal a handgun tucked in the waistband of his pants.

Subsequent investigation by the FBI and Niles Police Department, as well as information provided by individuals who had seen media coverage of the robbery, led to the identification of Unbehaun as the person believed to have carried out the robbery. According to the complaint, he was seen by law enforcement officials leaving a room at the Great Lakes Motel in North Chicago Sunday afternoon and, upon being approached by law enforcement, was arrested without incident.

Mr. Nelson expressed his thanks to the Niles Police Department for the significant assistance provided by detectives of the department.

Unbehaun appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown, at which time he was formally charged. Unbehaun remains in federal custody pending his next court appearance, which is not scheduled at this time.

If convicted of the charge filed against him, Unbehaun faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The public is reminded that a criminal 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.


ARCHIVES