Story Archive

Bad Gamble

When a lone armed robber hit a Chase bank branch in Chicago, Ill., she was pretty clear on what she wanted the tellers to do: “Let’s go to the vault,” she ordered. That, and “If you look at me, I will shoot.” An employee said he couldn’t get into the vault, which required “dual control.” The robber, wearing an overcoat over a pink floral nightgown, wouldn’t accept that, and demanded he put in his access code. He complied, and the robber escaped with more than $126,000 in cash. When investigators arrived, employees said they were “70 percent sure” they knew who the robber was: a former colleague who had transferred to another branch. Detectives went to that branch, and Latasha Gamble, 24, arrived to her job late. She confessed to the robbery, and said she put the cash into a trash dumpster. The money has not been recovered. (RC/Chicago Tribune) ...Though police report a massive upswing in “dumpster diving” in the Lakeview district.