CHICAGO — His face betrayed him.
A Rush Street bank robber was nabbed this week after cops used facial recognition software to figure out his identify, the feds said Friday.
A nervous-looking William Rostin, 50, allegedly robbed the PNC Bank at 877 N. Rust Street on June 1, according to a federal complaint.
He got away with $6,101 — but it was not a clean getaway. Surveillance cameras got his photo, and a Chicago Police investigator ran it through facial recognition software, the complaint said.
It matched Rostin, who has a history of robberies, the feds say. Witnesses later picked his photo out of a lineup.
In the most recent stickup, Rostin walked into the bank and asked a teller for a withdrawal slip, according to court documents. The teller said Rostin "was sweating and appeared nervous."
Rostin wrote on the slip and then showed it to the teller, according to court documents. The note said the bank was being robbed and Rostin wanted $10,000. The teller gave Rostin $6,101.
Rostin asked if the teller had a bag and the teller said no, according to court documents. He also stopped the teller from taking money out of the top drawer, instead telling him to use a lower drawer, the documents said.
"I am so sorry I have to do this," Rostin told the teller, according to court documents. "I am so sorry."
Rostin walked out of the bank with the cash and the teller set off the bank alarm, according to court documents.
Chicago Police compared a still image from bank surveillance footage to a facial recognition database, giving one result: Rostin, according to court documents.
Employees from the PNC Bank were shown a photographic lineup and said Rostin was the man who had robbed the bank, according to court documents.
Rostin was also involved with robberies at Fifth Third Bank, 29 W. Division St., and Citibank, 1 E. Oak St., according to officials. He has been convicted of bank robbery in the past, according to court documents.
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