CHICAGO — A man who allegedly asked a teller for "a few minutes to get away" was charged in a bank robbery just blocks from his Hyde Park home.
Robert D. Shaw, 54, of the 500 block of East 51st Street, faces up to 20 years in prison after being charged with one count of bank robbery following the stickup of a Fifth Third Bank branch in the 1400 block of East 53rd Street about 9:30 a.m. Friday.
After entering the bank, Shaw approached a teller asking to make a cash withdrawal, the affadavit said.
The teller asked him to produce identification, and after he fail to, Shaw was told the transaction couldn't be processed, according to the affadavit.
"I want all of the large bills out of your drawer. I'm robbing you," Shaw then told the teller, according to the affadavit.
After the teller told him she didn't have large bills, Shaw told her to "give me what you have" and "calm down. I don't want to hurt you," according to the affadavit.
"I don't want to hurt you. I have a sick child. I live a few blocks away," the robber told the teller who feared he might be armed, according to the affadavit.
Before Shaw allegedly folded about $1,874 into his jacket pocket and fled, he allegedly asked the teller, "Can you give me a few minutes to get away?"
Bank security cameras captured images of the robber, who apparently had a moustache and was wearing a plaid scarf and dark jacket, according to the affadavit.
Both the Chicago and University of Chicago police departments received a flash message about a bank robbery and were alerted to look out for a robber, according to the affadavit.
About 9:50 a.m., police spotted Shaw, who matched the description and found "numerous dye-stained United States currency bills" in his possession, according to the affadavit.
Police found a detonated dye capsule, a Burberry-style scarf, and red-stained money nearby, the affadavit said.
Shaw, whose jacket pocket had a hole apparently burned by the dye detonation, was taken into federal custody Friday afternoon, the affadavit said.
Upon seeing the bank's surveillance tape, according to the document, he told investigators: "That's me all day long. Anyone can see that."
