FBI: Mag Mile bank robber nabbed on South Side Red Line train

Police tracked down a man on a Red Line train less than an hour after he robbed a Magnificent Mile bank on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

Daniel Jones is charged with bank robbery by force or violence, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court. He was the second downtown bank robber in two days to have his heist foiled while riding the CTA as his getaway, authorities said.

Shortly before 2 p.m., Jones walked into the Citibank branch at 539 N. Michigan Ave., asked a teller for change for a $10 bill and then demanded cash when the teller opened the drawer, the complaint says.

“If you make a scene, I’ll blow this place up,” Jones allegedly said. He grabbed $1,216 from the teller’s hand and took off, authorities said.

A police officer arrived at the bank and shared a description of the robber over police radio, and a transit officer recalled someone matching the description who boarded a southbound train at the Lake Street Red Line station, authorities said.

Forty-five minutes later, officers stopped a train at the 35th Street station, spotted Jones with a wad of cash in his pocket and hauled him back to the bank, where two tellers identified him, authorities said.

The same robber was initially suspected of robbing another Citibank branch on Feb. 15 at 100 S. Michigan Ave. and a Chase Bank branch on Feb. 7 at 35 W. Wacker Drive, according to the FBI. Jones has not been charged with those hold-ups.

He remains jailed at the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center.