Chicago man charged with robbing Evanston bank

A Chicago man has been charged with robbing a north suburban bank Wednesday, then running from police and locking himself inside a stranger’s home.

Dewayne L. Tucker, 25, whose last known address was in the Bronzeville neighborhood, faces one federal charge of bank robbery, according to the FBI.

About 12:05 p.m., he walked into the BMO Harris Bank in the 1600 block of Maple Avenue in Evanston, and passed the teller a note threatening to shoot her if she didn’t give him cash, according to police and the FBI.

The teller read the note and looked at the robber, who nodded his head. She gave him the cash from her drawer and he ran away, police said. There were no other customers in the bank at the time.

Officers began looking for the robber at CTA platforms and spotted someone matching his description at the South Boulevard station on the Purple Line, police said.

As they approached, he yelled, “I didn’t do anything!” then jumped off the platform, and ran into a neighborhood west of the station, according to the federal criminal complaint.

Authorities set up a perimeter around the neighborhood and were starting their search when a woman came up to officers and said her home was locked from the inside, police said.

The woman, who lives in the 600 block of Callahan Avenue, told police she spoke to her husband, who said he was at work. She said there was no way for the home to be locked in that way unless someone was inside, police said.

Police forced their way into the home and found the man from the CTA station, later identified as Tucker, hiding in the bathroom, police said.

A large amount of cash was found stuffed inside the cover of a barbeque grill a few homes away, according to the complaint. Exactly $4,590 in cash was recovered.

One of the employees at the bank later identified Tucker as the robber in a photo array.

He appeared in U.S. District Court on Thursday and was ordered held pending his next court appearance Monday afternoon. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.