(MATTESON) A man suspected of robbing a bank Friday morning and leading police on a car chase through the south suburbs before fatally shooting himself has been identified as a former lieutenant with the Atlanta Police Department.
Maurice Chester Dodd, 44, died of a gunshot wound to the head and his death was ruled a suicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
A police officer was making a village deposit at the BMO Harris Bank branch at 4940 W. 211th in Matteson about 11 a.m. on Nov. 14 when he made eye contact with a man carrying a wad of cash as he walked away from the counter, according to a statement from Matteson police.
A teller, who had fallen to the ground and begun hyperventilating, told the officer the suspect had robbed the bank, police said.
The suspect took off in a 2003 Nissan, leading police on a high-speed chase from westbound U.S. 30 to northbound I-57, then eastbound on I-80 before pulling a U-turn to head south in the wrong lanes of I-57, police said.
The robber then exited onto eastbound Vollmer Road, and, as he passed Cicero Avenue, an officer saw him put a handgun to the right side of his head, the statement said.
The officer heard a gunshot and the driver’s side window of the car broke out before the vehicle veered into a field south of Vollmer, flipping over and striking a utility pole, police said.
Dodd, of Atlanta, shot himself in the head and was dead at the scene, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Just over $4,100 in cash was recovered from the vehicle, according to police.
Police said Dodd was a former lieutenant with the Atlanta police and was visiting Matteson from Georgia. He is not suspected in any other bank robberies in the area.
Matteson police and the FBI are finalizing their investigation, according to the statement.
