South Shore man charged with series of Chicago bank robberies

A South Side man has been charged with robbing three banks earlier this year in the Loop, South Chicago and University Village neighborhoods.

Alden J. Howze, 55, was indicted June 27 on bank robbery charges for three heists from January to March, according to a statement from the FBI.

The first robbery occurred about 9:21 a.m. Jan. 11 at the MB Financial Bank branch at 3030 E. 92nd St, the FBI said. The second occurred at 1:11 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Citibank branch at 11 S. LaSalle St. while the third happened at 12:34 p.m. March 27 at the Royal Savings Bank branch at 1410 W. Taylor St.

On March 28, The FBI’s Chicago field office received a call from someone who saw surveillance images from the Royal Savings Bank robbery on the morning news and recognized the suspect as Howze, authorities said. The caller worked at a grocery store and recognized Howze as an independent contractor who delivered groceries and drove customers home from the store.

Relatives of Howze also reached out to authorities to identify him as the suspect, the FBI said. One relative went to get clothing from Howze’s apartment on March 29 while he was checked into a hospital and found “a black bag containing a large amount of United States currency stained with red ink” while going through his laundry.

Investigators executed a search warrant March 31 at Howze’s South Shore apartment and found ink-stained cash, clothing matching that worn by the robber in the MB Financial robbery, and a demand note, the FBI said.

Howze appeared in U.S. District Court in Chicago on June 29. He was released on bond with conditions, the FBI said. Further details about the conditions of his bond were not immediately available.