Chasing The Criminals: FBI's Most Intense Manhunts For Bank Robbers | Real Stories True Crime

[Music] thank you in the mid-1990s a gang of professional bank robbers raided cities across seven states disguises and speed Protected Their identity from cameras and the police they stole hundreds of thousands of dollars always leaving a bomb to terrorize their victims with no needs and little evidence the FBI had to find the bandits before someone got killed [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] across the Midwest the band of armed Rob has struck banks at the rate of nearly one per month they attacked with lightning precision and lethal Force they were in and out in five minutes I'm Jim calstrum former head of the FBI's New York office the stakes were raised when the FBI discovered the Rob has had an agenda Beyond personal wealth to stop these violent extremists the FBI need to capture their terrorist leaders in 1994 the citizens of Ames Iowa enjoyed the peaceful life provided by a small college town [Music] many newcomers had moved to Ames because of the area's low crime rate on January 25th at 10 30 in the morning two men ended a bank in town they wore ski masks and held semi-automatic pistols they ordered everyone to the floor teller managed to set off a silent alarm without being seen the FBI office in nearby Des Moines was alerted the agency had primary investigative jurisdiction and crimes involving federally insured money agents immediately respond but they were 30 miles away from the back [Music] the bandits quickly emptied the cash [Music] don't look at me face the ground one of them pulled out what appeared to be he warned that no one should move for five minutes or it would explode [Music] the employees and customers evacuated as soon as they could uh well you know the local police cordoned off the bank as explosive experts worked inside the bomb proved to be a diversion two road flares bound with duct tape the employees described how one of the gunmen leaped over the counter to grab the money they grabbed thousands in cash and were in and out of the bank in less than five minutes agents interviewed the witnesses so did you guys don't want to add anything else they said the gunman sometimes used in Spanish when talking to each other the security camera provided photographs of the robbery emasks effectively hid the faces of the assailants but investigators had images of their disguises and their weapons nine millimeter semi-automatics because the perpetrators wore gloves they did not leave any fingerprints detectives used electrostatic tape to recover a footprint from the counter the precautions taken by the bandits have effectively obscured their identities special agent Ken Moore of the Des Moines Iowa FBI field office was immediately concerned that they were dealing with dangerous professionals now most bank robbers try to enter Banks as quietly as possible go up to one teller counter and proceed to rob the bank and then leave as quietly as they can these individuals came in very violently fast [Music] agent Moore wanted to apprehend the suspects as quickly as he could but the FBI had nothing of value to lead to their identity much later a communique came into the Des Moines office look it alerted area FBI of a February 15th bank robbery in Davenport Iowa agents contacted the Davenport office to see if the incident might be related Trump yes the agent described two gunmen wearing ski masks and black overcoats that had invaded a davenport Bank the thieves used the same Spanish phrases as the Des Moines Bandits they also hopped over the counter to empty the cash drawers there was one significant difference this time the bandits left a real explosive a pipe bomb instead of a fake fortunately the Detonator was missing disarming it had slowed down the investigation what that device does is it uh required more manpower that could be out conducting an active investigation instead they're at the bank making sure things are safe investigators believed that the similarities between the incidents were more than coincidental after the Davenport bank robbery we realized that the same individuals were responsible for both bank robberies and this was our first connection to a possible serial serial bank robbers okay see you later in the next four months Cincinnati Green Bay and Kansas City suffered similar crimes there appeared to be a pattern of their robberies there appeared to be two regions where they were robbing banks the the Midwest region as well as the Ohio region we were trying to logically connect those two regions and why Banks were being robbed that way the robberies occurred between 10 and 11 in the morning when Banks were less populated each time the bandits were out in less than five minutes always leaving an inert bomb as they fled the wide Geographic spread of targets made their next moves impossible to predict I'll get back with you the FBI needed to find some evidence that would lead to the suspects on June 8 1994 the bandits hit a bank in Springdale Ohio they drove away with over eleven thousand dollars the bystanders saw them use a brown Chevrolet as their getaway car on June 17th the security guard became suspicious of a car on his employer's lot it had been sitting for a week without anyone claiming it we saw a police scanner he also spotted a pager next to a stained 20 bill a Springdale officer came out to check the car he began a search to ascertain the vehicle's ownership so it is he made an effort to force open the glove compartment the grenade tumbled out the hand grenade turned out to be another inert explosive but its presence linked the car to the bank robbery [Music] agents used the car's serial numbers to track down the dealership where it had been sold they talked to the salesman who had handled the deal the sale had been made less than two weeks earlier but he couldn't give a description of the buyer the dead ends left investigators feeling the pressure we were becoming frustrated because the escalation of violence seemed to have been increasing they were more brazen were brandishing Firearms scaring Bank employees they were scaring customers leaving behind booby traps so we were very frustrated and we were concerned on December 27th the bandits finished 1994 with their 12th robbery in as many months they hit a bank outside St Louis this time there were four gunmen now we were concerned over uh possible takeovers of banks possible entry into the bank vault with four people there's a lot more they can do bystanders of the St Louis robbery saw the bandits put on their ski masks before entering the building the teller got a glimpse of one of them inside the bank these Witnesses helped FBI artists make composite sketches of the suspects the FBI distributed the drawings to other agencies in the media they hoped it might bring someone forward who might know something more [Music] the television and news reports generated hundreds of calls into the FBI offices agents followed up on all credible tips but none provided any lead value the assailants communicated with the media as well they sent letters and cartoons to newspapers the correspondence ridiculed federal agents in their attempts to catch them in one letter the gang dubbed themselves the midwestern Bank Bandits the bandits sent another message to authorities in one of their getaway cars an investigator searched a vehicle used in a robbery near St Louis on the front seat the gang had left a newspaper clipping about Timothy McVeigh the Oklahoma City bomber [Music] show you in less than two years the bandits had hit at least 15 Banks across the Midwest by the end of August 1995 Agents from seven states and FBI headquarters gathered in Louisville Kentucky all the offices were now working together to identify and apprehend the suspects [Music] all information and leads were to be channeled through a single office then distributed to the others see if we can't raise the serial number special agent Moore in Des Moines served as the point man the meeting also resulted in all case agents going back to their office reviewing all files to see if there's anything they may have missed or anything of lead value that might assist us in identifying the Suspects supervisory special agent David Welker found a phone tip that came into his Cincinnati office after a June 1994 robbery the informant had named two men as the leaders of the midwestern Bank mandates Peter Langan and Richard Guthrie we determined at the time that they had criminal backgrounds that as we set out our leads that they had been arrested in Georgia for the robbery of a Pizza Hut and then we found also at the time that the U.S Secret Service had looked at Langan as a result of threats made to the president at the arrest police seized semi-automatic guns and grenades weapons similar to those used by the bank Bandits suspects served a brief prison sentence before being released [Music] agent Welker was able to pull their mug shots he compared the photographs with the artist's sketches made after the St Louis robberies and they were so close then that it was it was phenomenal it appeared that the the composite artists used these photographs to draw the composite drawings that's how close they were agents now had names for the gunman in pursuing the FBI was about to uncover a far more deadly plot than bank robbery in 1995 the FBI hunted the midwestern Bank Bandits the day before Thanksgiving the four gunmen struck another bank in St Louis their 21st robbery their disguise included ATF hats the same caps worn by federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms they also left their signature pipe bomb none of these explosive devices had gone off they had either been inert or lacking detonators by now agents knew how to defuse the bombs themselves they weren't going to let the ruse slow the investigation down anymore supervisory special agent David Welker of the Cincinnati office had names for two of the bandits but Peter Langan and Richard Gusman were living Underground surfacing only when they struck another bank clearly we've identified the right people we're trying to develop as much information about these people and their contacts as possible but the best part about it is we have leads to follow in the intervening months the informant who had provided the names had moved from Ohio canister special agent Ed Woods of the Cincinnati FBI field office tracked the informant to Georgia where he lived with his new wife and child this fella had been an associate of of Langan and Guthrie in the past had had removed himself from that lifestyle and was starting a new life for himself and I think he was he was ready to put all that behind him so when I interviewed him he cooperated fully I need to ask you a few questions the informative met Langan in 1991 at a white supremacist rally they shared similar beliefs about race and government [Music] a year later Langan proclaimed his intention to form the Aryan Republican Army [Music] it was going to start a revolution against Washington and its federal agencies like the FBI and ATF it's your tax money Langan had been inspired by the order and established terrorist group I'm saying the order had financed their racist agenda by robbing 4 million dollars from Banks and armored cars that evening Langan introduced Guthrie as his compatriot two months before the first bank robbery they asked the informant to become a member of the Aryan Army well I've got some stuff here he declined to join the new gang but he did agree to pitch in what we got from this cooperating witness was the scope of of their activities the the surgical planning for the their bank robbery activities the fact that now we learned for the first time that their activities aren't just bank robbery and and criminal matters it relates to white supremacy [Music] the informant helped Langdon case the bank in Springdale Ohio [Music] but before that June 1994 robbery the informant had a change of heart and cut himself off from the bandits he had participated enough to be charged as an accountant the FBI promised not to prosecute him if he assisted right now they were ready to make a deal to capture Langan and Guthrie once we determined that they had broken off other white supremacist organizations to form their own it certainly ratcheted the uh the investigation of just another notch agent Welker suspected it was only a matter of time before the midwestern Bank Bandits turned their racial Prejudice into violence the gang was back in Cincinnati hitting another bank in December 1995. during their escape one of the bandits bumped into a teenager the gunman demanded her purse she refused to comply only the sound of approaching Sirens prevented the young woman from being seriously hurt betting that the bandits were still in the area agent Welker brought the informant to Cincinnati upon arriving the informant agreed to re-enter the white supremacist movement make sure that he has your pager agents instructed him to page the FBI when he made contact with the Suspects but investigators became frustrated when more than a week passed without any results since he's been here for a week and a half and has provided no information at all and has arranged no meeting has virtually done nothing I was more than skeptical as to the what this cooperating witness could do for us and I was prepared to send him home because of uh my disbelief at the time 6 30 in the morning of January 17 1996 the informant paged the FBI the call roused investigators from sleep to a secret meeting the informant claim to have found Guthrie he was finishing dinner with a friend when Guthrie unexpectedly showed up the informant invented a reason for being in Cincinnati and engaged the suspect in small talk Guthrie invited him out to his van to continue the conversation in private [Music] while they sat in the parking lot the suspect asked his old friend to reconsider joining the Gang dude my little bit Guthrie showed off an assault rifle and a bag of armor-piercing bullets [Music] provided a partial license plate number and description of Guthrie's van agents still doubted his credibility so I had agent Woods arrange to have the cooperating witness in the FBI office at four o'clock on Sunday afternoon I didn't want him to know why he was there I just wanted him to be there and then I arranged for my divisions polygraph examiner to be there and I wanted a polygraph of him I wanted to make sure that what he was telling us was true the informant agreed to take a lie detector test I think he's lying thank you give him a chance The Examiner determined that the young man had been deceptive in his answers during the test what's going on to prove it he placed a call to the friend with whom he had had dinner your phone allowed the agents to hear everything without prompting we immediately asked about his time with Guthrie so now we had to make a decision and a decision is do we believe the polygraph or do we believe the phone call I think at the time I think the decision we made was the right one that is we have to believe the phone call it was an unprovoked response by the friend the informative range to meet Guthrie on Monday at their Mutual friend's apartment FBI agents assembled an arrest team they staked out the location ready to capture the suspect when he arrived [Music] the informant waited inside the apartment friend did not know why the meeting had been arranged Guthrie had promised to come sometime between 4 and 5 PM five o'clock came and went without the white supremacist arriving the informant knew that more than his credibility was at stake so was his cooperation agreement if the FBI believed he had deceived them they would turn him over to prosecutors for bank robbery at 5 20 there was still no sign of Guthrie it looked like the suspect would not show up outside the arrest team grew impatient [Music] hey what's up yeah he's here it was Guthrie on the phone he said they could meet at a nearby pizza restaurant in 30 minutes all right 30 minutes down yeah yeah the informant needed to get word to the arrest team he told his buddy he was going out for cigarettes [Music] the informant told the agents about the call [Music] okay guys they alerted the SWAT team to the new location several cars set out for the pizza parlor the agents could not help but wonder if this was the location or just another diversion along the way traffic separated the arrest team One agent was passing a convenience store parking lot when he spotted Guthrie he turned around and radioed to the others that the suspect had been citing three got into his van and started driving the agent stayed in the van's tail hoping the rest of the team would catch up he was alone following a suspect considered highly dangerous determined not to let Richard Guthrie get away in January 1996 the FBI pursued Richard Guthrie the suspect was wanted for 22 bank robberies agents separated from the arrest team had spotted the suspect at a Cincinnati parking lot and began tailing his van he reported by radio his progress to the others where are you Guthrie noticed that he was being followed an informant had reported that he was armed with automatic weapons and armor-piercing bullets [Music] the suspect tried to lose his tail [Music] thank you the arrest team caught up with a loan agent and joined the chase that we couldn't shake he unwittingly turned into a cul-de-sac agent Edward sprinted right behind it was almost as if it was in slow motion where I like you could almost read his mind what he's thinking he's thinking I believe is this it is this the last standoff of this white supremacist and quite frankly what I expected him to do was to turn and start firing we came to a riverbank he had no Escape agents boxed him in I've been in law enforcement for over 20 years and I've never seen a look on a face like Guthrie's at the time and Guthrie as he was looking at us he was deciding whether he wanted to die right then he was deciding whether he wanted to pull a gun and take on everybody was standing there [Music] the suspect chose to live he submitted to arrest oh catching him it was it was a huge relief and catching him to where there was no violence attached to the arrest was even a greater relief once in custody Guthrie began talking banks around the Midwest he told investigators how he stayed in touch with the other primary suspect Peter Langan the friends used coded voicemails to contact one another he handed over his patreon pin number right here he claimed his next meeting with Langan was to be in Indianapolis dead Guthrie's lawyer made an agreement with the FBI for later consideration in sentencing they could take the suspect with them to use his bait under the arrangement the accompanying agents weren't allowed to question Guthrie about his crimes agent Welker sought another way to apply information from the Bandit's leader I assigned two agents to guard them one agent is a former Harrier pilot in the Marine Corps and the other is our principal Firearms instructor and of course over two-day period there's a lot of discussion going on I was well aware that Guthrie had a had an interest in flying and he had a keen interest in weapons during the trip the agents engaged Guthrie in Long conversations about common interests the congenial strategy worked the assailant warmed up to his accompanying agents and began volunteering information on the robberies Guthrie admitted that he had lied to investigators his Rendezvous was really supposed to take place in Columbus Ohio not Indianapolis where the investigators had taken him 2709 he gave them the address of a safe house he told them Langan was heavily armed he would not come out without a fight an FBI arrest team assembled the next morning in Columbus langan's van was parked next to the duplex Guthrie had described to wait until the suspect exited his home and got into his van [Music] then as he pulled out FBI cars would box him in this would contain him and prevent a vehicular Pursuit all Escape Avenues were blocked off [Music] at 9 30 a.m Langan left the duplex carrying a canvas bag agents suspected this held an assault weapon [Music] got into his van but failed to start the engine [Music] the arrest team waited for the word once he was observed getting into the van the day adrenaline for everyone there was flowing everyone knew something was going to happen the suspect sat Motionless agents didn't know if he was planning something he seemed as if he anticipated the arrest finally the signal went out to move it let's take it let's take him and what agents thought was a suicide move Langan had decided to put up a fight on January 18 1996 the suspected leader of 22 bank robberies decided to shoot it out with an FBI SWAT team supervisory special agent David Welker of the Cincinnati office led the arrested someone who's going to pull a gun on 20 or more FBI agents is one nasty dude is one nasty Criminal Peter Lankan was one gun against many SWAT team bullets pummeled the van it was over within moments but not before 50 rounds fired Langan survived and surrendered despite the hail of bullets he suffered only minor injuries to the face and back years of pursuit the Western Bank Bandits were now in custody two other accomplices remained at Large the van was filled with semi-automatic guns ammunition and grenades inside the canvas bag agents found a nine millimeter semi-automatic pistol it was the same make of weapon that the bank Bandits used evidence inside the duplex confirmed the bandits were more than a gang of Thieves the house contained an Armory big enough to equip a small Cadre of terrorists [Music] agents found ski masks FBI hats police uniforms and false IDs from nearly every state of the union books and literature detailed the gang's Creed of militant hate investigators discovered a tape among the propaganda it targeted young white males for recruitment into the Aryan Republican Army [Music] tomorrow the world please have a seat a Columbus bank teller had briefly glimpsed the face of one of the bandits 17 months earlier you recognize detectives gave her a photo lineup hoping she could remember enough to make an ID but Lankan from the array of similar looking men while Langan refused to cooperate Guthrie agreed to tell all he knew agents debriefed him 10 hours a day for 10 straight days how many accomplices did you have he could recall all the places times and dates it took 99 pages to detail the 22 robberies [Music] but when it came to his at-large accomplices Guthrie only knew their first names the bank Bandits had been assembled like an underground terrorist cell personal information on others was kept to a minimum to prevent capture Guthrie could only offer that the man he knew only as Scott was involved in music the man he knew as Kevin was the nephew of a police supervisor special agent both lived in the Philadelphia area yeah the scanned information was forwarded to Pennsylvania special agent Joe Hendrickson of the Philadelphia FBI field office was initially overwhelmed by the request there's no hope of finding these people with that information I sat back and had a cup of coffee and then I said well I'll go contact the Philadelphia Police Department and there's a possibility that maybe their personnel records indicate nephews but I was in much doubt that that type of record existed because I know that in my outfit I did not list nieces and nephews in my personnel file [Music] Philadelphia had seven thousand police officers any one of which could be Kevin's uncle the search began at the Intelligence Division of the police department an officer knew immediately who the FBI was looking for the division had been keeping tabs on white supremacists in the area Intelligence Officers it kept them under surveillance for over a year [Music] officers often spotted them meeting on a farm belonging to Mark Thomas over the years the Philadelphia Police Department had been taking down tags at various rallies and so forth and at some point in time they took down a tag ran the tag and it came out to Kevin McCarthy and then they said you know we've got a lieutenant here has that name they contacted him and lo and behold they found out that Kevin McCarthy was attending Aryan Nation rallies squad on Kevin McCarthy [Music] they observed him repeatedly visiting a recording studio in Philadelphia [Music] agents noted the license numbers of the cars outside the business they ran the plates for all the people going in and out one of the vehicles belonged to a man named Scott steedeford he managed the studio and also played drums in McCarthy's band from his amateur photo Guthrie confirmed that this was the Scot he had worked with yeah using that same phone the witness also recognized stedeford as the getaway driver in the Des Moines robbery an arrest warrant was sent to Philadelphia the studio presented too many risks for officers to invade and force agents could not be sure who was inside and what weapons might be hidden they didn't want another shootout actually and um these are the lyrics I came up with two undercover agents posed as father and daughter the female agent asked steadford about the cost of studio time he claimed she wanted to record a song for her mother instead of had considered a quote the undercover agents confirmed that he was alone and online the agents Drew on him [Music] they placed him under arrest the FBI did not have an arrest warrant for Kevin McCarthy they feared that he wouldn't run once he heard about stedeford's capture what we ended up doing was we brought his uncle the Philadelphia police officer with us we felt that with his blood relative the law enforcement presence and the total set of circumstances that we hoped that he would somehow be convinced that the thing to do would be to cooperate the uncle entered the basement bedroom he disarmed his sleeping nephew the agent woke the young man Kevin he began explaining that it was in McCarthy's best interest to cooperate with the FBI yeah only suspicions tied the young man to the crimes the agent needed a confession he showed McCarthy the 99-page admission made by Guthrie and when he saw this report describing every bank robbery what they did where they went he realized that we had all the information he just didn't realize that we had no evidence the young man was overwhelmed he voluntarily turned over the weapon and clothing he used in the robberies when he began to confess his uncle stopped it and advised him to get a lawyer [Music] with all the suspects now in custody agents considered their investigation wrapped up on July 3 1996 Richard Guthrie pleaded guilty to 19 bank robberies he agreed to testify against his accomplices [Music] with his cooperation prosecutors considered their case airtight nine days later the cooperating witness hanged himself in a jail cell Prasad devastated the government's case now that created a major problem for the prosecution because since Guthrie could no longer be cross-examined his information couldn't be used directly against Langan if the other bank vendors were going to be convicted the FBI had to find someone else who could corroborate Guthrie's confession foreign [Music] 1996 the legal case against the midwestern Bank magnets was on the verge of collapse the chief cooperating witness had killed himself [Music] without his Testament the evidence against his captured co-defense was slip special agent Joe Hendrickson spearheaded the investigation in Philadelphia these bank robbers were very very good and the evidence that they left behind at every robbery was Zero they were fully masked fully gloved they their weapons were untraceable Hendrickson helped convince Kevin McCarthy to plead guilty and turn States Witness but prosecutors needed more than one cooperating felon to convict the others investigators focused on the man who had steered suspects into the Aryan Republican Army [Music] Ferd and Kevin McCarthy into Outlaws toward his family Thomas edited a newsletter and web page for white supremacists his literature and videos had swayed many young men into racist and anti-government organizations and we felt that even though he was not personally involved in these crimes that he had caused these crimes to come about and therefore he was responsible and and based on conspiracy laws we felt that it was quite possible to go after him for conspiring to commit bank robbery the FBI made weekly contact with Thomas at his Pennsylvania farm they wanted to know about his activities but more importantly they wanted to keep pressure on him and I've had him got enough of you guys coming over here they made it clear that they suspected him and weren't going away [Music] cool Kevin McCarthy told investigators that he and Scott steedeford had stayed at Thomas's homes he acted like a father figure to them and warned them of the coming race war he brought the young men to live in Elohim City a white separatist compound in Oklahoma during the summer of 1994 Thomas invited them to join the Aryan Republican Army [Music] in mid-october Scott stuttered he participated in his first bank robbery two weeks later [Music] the 13th drove Kevin McCarthy to Arkansas for an introduction to Langdon and Guthrie the teenager heard them boast of successfully robbing banks throughout the Midwest [Music] the 17 year old joined up [Music] agents also learned from McCarthy that Thomas took a hundred dollars in stolen money for the start of an Aryan War chest over the months of contact the agents caught Thomas in several lies about his activities my farm and I don't need to overcome they took what they had to U.S prosecutors the United States attorney's office decided that based on the cooperating Witnesses testimony we were going to arrest him even though it was a very slim case it was a close cause the United States attorney's office would say but we're going to put out an arrest warrant for him Thomas heard that the FBI was going to pick him up on a charge of conspiracy he agreed to surrender after calling the media to witness them he told the Press their presence prevented his assassination was pleaded not guilty at his arraignment hearing on February 4th 1997. no comment he has to meet with the FBI the next day that's where Mark Thomas caved he signed a seven-page plea agreement that corroborated Kevin McCarthy's confession the government's case was now solid this was the biggest surprise of anyone's involved in the case the idea that the head of the movement after one day in prison would decide to completely cooperate was just unfathomable but apparently our pressure over the six months that it of continually talking to him and then the one night in prison was enough for him to decide that he had been completely wrong in his ideals and that he wanted to uh as he said get right with God hey Mark Thomas was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison Peter Lankan was convicted on bank robbery and gun charges Kevin McCarthy got five years [Music] his testimony helped convict Scott Stanford on two counts of armed bankrupt chocolate we don't need that instead of her to 29 and a half years [Music] in America extremist groups enjoy the freedom to maintain their beliefs they are constitutionally protected until they cross the legal line of law activities they will find the f on a mission to stop [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] the disguised serial bank robber terrorizes the Chicago area expert with weapons aware of police procedure and fearless he is hard and disappears fast [Music] police and the FBI realize the only way to stop him is to catch him in the act but his desperate violence proves impossible and predict [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the average bank robbery yields roughly three thousand dollars yet some criminals risk everything for the take in suburban Chicago a disguised gunman began a series of robberies growing more violent with each one I'm Jim calstrom former head of the FBI's New York office tracking the robber's movements agents discovered he wasn't alone and would do anything to avoid capture [Music] March 5th 1990. Chicago Illinois [Music] at a bank on the city's South Side employees began what they thought was a normal work day the neighborhood was quiet until 10 am [Music] don't you touch that alarm this guy's gunman threatened to kill anyone who didn't follow his orders [Music] the tellers knew not to interfere [Music] it was over in seconds [Music] when they were safe they called police [Music] the Chicago Police Patrol officers closest to the bank responded first the witnesses reported that the robber was a white male about six feet tall but they didn't see details of his features because of his disguise he wore gloves and carried a police scanner the man was aggressive handling his semi-automatic handgun with confidence he left no fingerprints and security cameras revealed no other immediate Clues release canvas the area hoping to find other Witnesses a woman who lived near the bank reported that she thought she had seen the robber she said that at about the time of the robbery she saw a man who seemed to be wearing a fake beard get into a small four-door sedan she did not get the place but she did give officers a description of the car checking every similar car in the area they soon found one they believed was the robber's getaway vehicle abandoned a few blocks from the bank the officer approached with caution in case someone was still inside but it was empty except for a paper towel covering the broken ignition a records check revealed the car had been stolen from a mall parking lot four days earlier later processing produced no leads to the robber bank robbery is a federal offense so police contacted the Chicago FBI supervisory senior resident agent Bill Keefe had handled dozens of bank robbery calls that time we were extremely busy with robberies one day we were running sometimes as many as three robberies a week most were committed by amateurs who went in without a plan and were caught quickly but when the bank robbery Squad reviewed the reports on the South Side robbery they noted how clean the assault was obviously well planned they believed it was not the bearded assailant's first robbery and would not be his last two months later the robber with the fake beard hit a bank in the suburb of Libertyville not satisfied with cash drawers this time he ordered a teller to open the vault said his police and I would let him know if anyone hit the silent alarm put it in there come on [Music] the rubber escaped with thousands of dollars in cash [Music] but this time a teller got the license plate number from his getaway car while Libertyville police looked for the car Chicago FBI agents interviewed the tellers special agent Hank Schmidt learned the gunman was more aggressive this time he control people with the weapon he would intimidate them by putting the gun up towards their face he pointed the gun directly at someone when he talked to them which was intimidating to the the tellers and the customers although interviews yielded no clues police did find the getaway car abandoned a few blocks from the bank again the vehicle had been stolen from a mall three days earlier and as before the thief used a towel to hide the broken ignition [Music] FBI special agent Dave childrey was part of the robbery Squad the squad uncovered an earlier robbery in Wilmette Illinois believed to be committed by the same man one surveillance camera photo provided a frightening clue there was a very good picture of the robber taken in which he was using what we call a weaver stance this is a shooting position taught to police officers it was taught to FBI agents and if you have been taught to shoot like that you recognize it this person might have had some Law Enforcement Training if so he would know how these investigations work and he could prove very difficult to catch the local press dubbed him the Bearded Bandit investigators took advantage of the coverage to ask citizens for help they published enhanced stills from the robberies hoping someone would recognize him despite the disguise we put his picture on the news did wear a beer or fake beard and mustache and a ball cap so after running those pictures we were not getting any tips from the public in November 1990 The elusive Bandit hit a bank in Wheeling Illinois patellar hit the alarm before he was told not to try over his scanner the gunman heard the police responding you didn't leave the bank which was you know bank robbers they're there to rob the bank they're not there to get involved in a shootout with the police he stayed in the bank while the police were responding and held the gun up to the cashier and counted down from 10. hey seven six five four three two it seemed he knew how long he had before police responded more evidence he might be a cop as the robberies continued it looked like the Bandit purposely chose Targets in different jurisdictions to complicate the investigation never hit the second time the robberies would be on the other end of the suburban area against Lake Michigan and then they would be out in Schaumburg or Elk Grove Village or up north in the Lake County such as Libertyville [Music] as he struck in new suburbs the FBI had to coordinate with a growing number of police departments Palatine Illinois police chief John Kozel a detective sergeant of the time learned of the case and that the bandits getaway cars belonged to shopping mall employees stolen at the beginning of their shifts he would steal one of the employee cars knowing that it would not be reported stolen for approximately eight hours we knew we had eight hours to get the vehicle to where he needed to put it before anyone would even Discover it missing and it would become hot on the system when dumping the cars the robber did his best to interfere with the ongoing investigation [Music] wiping them clean of fingerprints and leaving no trace of himself behind [Music] it was very apparent that he was aware of evidence Gathering techniques of police methods in the end agents found nothing of evidentiary value in any of the cars since the cars didn't help identify the Bandit investigators followed every conceivable lead that might they visited theatrical shops around the city hoping A salesperson might recognize the man with the fake beard as a customer out again nothing The Bearded Bandit committed seven armed bank robberies in the Chicago area between January 1990 and February 1991. then the robberies stopped we went over what we had done to that point in time looked for things we might have missed maybe he'd been incarcerated somewhere maybe he'd moved out of state maybe he was dead we just didn't know the Bandit's Trail stayed cold for nine months on November 4th 1991 Palatine Police Officer Kevin Maher was working the day shift the dispatcher in training rode along to learn procedure [Music] I was heading Southbound on Clinton Road when I saw a vehicle heading Northbound and I looked in my side view mirror and I thought what I saw was an expired tag [Music] so I made a u-turn and I was telling my ride along that we were going to go up and see if this vehicle had expired place and if it did I would conduct a traffic stop and show him how we conduct a traffic stop and how we punch all the numbers into the computer it was supposed to be a routine stop [Music] the person driving the vehicle swerved over to the side of the road and jammed on the brakes [Music] [Applause] he's got a gun Maher's first instinct was to protect his passenger The Bearded Bandit was back in November 1991 a routine Chicago area traffic stop erupted in violence when a man shot Palatine Police Officer Kevin Maher [Music] I was in a State of Shock because it was broad daylight it was 11 o'clock and it was a quiet residential street it was a basic ambush and after he fired the first round the first round came through the windshield and struck me in the shoulder and glass from the windshield struck me in the left ear [Applause] get it for your location the officer down call went out on the Illinois State Police emergency radio network for more than a dozen surrounding suburbs police and emergency Personnel rushed to the scene [Music] Mar realized one of the shots that pierced his windshield was aimed dead center and might have hit him in the head had he not moved to protect his passenger and reverse the car [Applause] foreign tics treated Maher officers questioned him as a police officer he was a perfect Witness [Music] trained in recalling details he gave them a description of the gunman the car's license plates the type of gun and the direction in which the attacker escaped you got a male white 6 foot 200 pounds beard cat lasting going south from the scene so once spreadouts are looking for the car which way [Music] police fanned out to find the shooter more than 100 officers joined the joints on joined this off three blocks from the location of the attack police found the shooter's vehicle it had been reported stolen from a mall parking lot five days earlier Palatine Police Chief John Kozel realized the grave Danger when someone is willing to shoot at a police officer on a routine traffic stop we all realized that he he's willing to shoot at anyone his determination to escape is much greater than his concern for the safety of anyone that would be a law enforcement officer a citizen on the street when you're willing to shoot a policeman you're willing to shoot anyone those who helped coordinate the search for the deadly gunman we immediately set up a perimeter with the assistance of the state county and local officers in the area we had canines on the scene we had a chopper in the air we notified the schools in the area to stay locked down evidence technicians began to process the car the ignition was broken the damage covered by a paper towel [Music] they looked for fingerprints that might help them identify the perpetrator but found none K-9 handlers brought in their dogs which are trained to remember a scent from a specified place then follow only that scent ignoring others the trail ended not far from the vehicle despite the massive effort the suspect somehow Slipped Away [Music] [Laughter] [Music] in addition to taking it personal when one of our officers is shot uh we all know that a citizen is much more likely to be injured or killed and we worked that much harder to bring them to justice for more resources they called in the FBI and supervisory special agent Bill Keith I was asked to come over to the Palatine Police Department by the chief of police there had been a composite sketch drawn and everybody was reviewing the circumstances of the shooting for nearly two years Keith and his Squad had been working The Bearded Bandit case [Music] I had asked if we could look at the car that was found and when I looked at the ignition this was our bank robber after being treated officer Maher came to the station to look at surveillance photos of The Bearded Bandit he said the bank robber did look like the man who shot him he surmised that he was on his way to do a bank robbery he knew once the officer ran the plate the car would come back stolen he also knew that with the guns he had in his vehicle it's not something he could conceal if the officer walked up to the vehicle the beard advance had made a huge leap in violence this guy wasn't going to go away we were going to have to come up with a very Innovative way to either identify him and charge him or that we were going to have to catch him in the act [Music] Kozel brought the many investigators together after the initial search we set up a multi-jurisdictional task force here at our Police Department we had the FBI the state police Cook County sheriff's police and all the local agencies from our area and those involved in the period bank robber series since their suspects seemed to know police procedure they adjusted it we learned we had a violent bank robber that was using a scanner we were no longer giving out the location of the bank over the air we were giving out a code number for each particular Bank the task force hope Patrol officers in the area could use the codes to respond to robbery calls without the Bandit realizing it especially you want to cover agent confident that the Bearded Bandit would resume his crime spree eventually police began doing spot checks of banks throughout the region [Music] on November 18th two weeks after the shooting Elk Grove Village Illinois police officers saw nothing suspicious at One Bank on their list [Music] but later that morning a woman leaving a nearby business did people in obvious disguises entering the bank after a police shooting in the Chicago area that was linked to The Bearded Bandit the gunman reappeared in Elk Grove Village Illinois this time with an accomplice 9-1-1 can I help you while a witness outside the bank called police there's something very strange going on here the robbers struck the Bandit demanded money from the Vault his accomplished standing guard 9-1-1 dispatch aware of the Bearded Bandit used a pre-arranged code to alert officers without revealing information over the police scanner they also alerted the FBI special agent Hank Schmidt realized the new Danger the big concern is that the robber in some cases discharges the weapon when he's using it to gesture at the employees so the potential for violence is always there the numbers obviously increase if we have two people that are armed in the bank the manager explained they could not get into the time delay vault the dispatcher instructed the witness outside to leave in case there was gun play with the money from the cash drawers the robbers fled unaware the police had been called the teller hit the alarm [Music] Elk Grove Village officers approached with their Sirens off quietly surrounding the bank if the robbers were still inside and heard police they might take hostages officers were in even more danger according to Palatine Chief John Kozel for the first time we had two bearded individuals rob a bank that of course increased our sense of urgency even more now we had two armed gunmen to deal with uh when law enforcement arrives at these Banks 2600 can you call the bank find out through the dispatcher police talked with Bank employees the manager said the robbers had left the officers had to be sure the robbers could be holding a gun on the manager forcing her to lie the dispatcher asked them to send one employee outside to talk to police the manager gave them the description of the woman chosen to go 2600 have the official come out okay I see her coming out the bank around here the employee assured them the assailants were gone and no one was injured inside all right guys bank is clear going inside the officers moved in to clear the bank for certain one of the witnesses told us that she believed that the second person a smaller person was possibly a woman disguised as a man after the Elk Grove Village robbery police recovered two cars with abandoned signature ignition covering it was more evidence of his criminal sophistication to cleanse himself after leaving the bank he would drop the one off a block from the bank that he had just gotten into that all the witnesses had seen him leave the bank in and he would go a few blocks away and get into the other vehicle that he had left there previous and since cleansed himself from that first hot vehicle all of the cars were similar according to special agent Dave childrey we were able to kind of key in the Cars by the type the make the size the non-visibility of them they were just everyday cars he was stealing them then letting them sit for several days before using them as getaway cars the task force asked to be notified of similar cars stolen from area shopping malls successful in getting information on cars of that type that were stolen in the northwest suburbs and in the city of Chicago we would put that information out on a weekly basis just got back in from the FBI and Sergeant Steve Pearson from Chicago PD actually went to every roll call of approximately 50 to 60 law enforcement agencies and spoke to the individual officers on the need to find these cars those personal visits mean a lot more than just putting something out on a teletype somewhere in the metro area they hope to find a getaway car after the Bandit stole it but before he used it in a robbery Weeks Later officer Tom polinski was checking an apartment building parking lot in Niles Illinois when he spotted a stolen car on their list it did look like the bearded Bandits work the agreement was if they found one of those and it did turn out to be stolen when they ran the license plate that they would back off and notify us that happened we set up a surveillance on that vehicle FBI agents and Niles police officers and detectives watched from An Empty Apartment overlooking the stolen car 24 hours a day on December 13th we found out in the Rolling Meadows Police had located another stolen car that was at all probability one of the beer to bend its cars Chief kozal was sure they were right these two particular vehicles were both stolen out of large Mall areas both were owned by employees of those malls the ammo was perfect they set up surveillance on the second car in Rolling Meadows too Rolling Meadows PD stepped up they shared time detectives intelligence sat with our agents out there 24 hours a day foreign to further ensure the Bandit did not slip away the FBI wanted to install tracking devices in the vehicles [Music] but they couldn't do so in the parking lots [Music] late one night agents removed the two cars and replace them with lookalikes for a few hours [Music] it was a risky move the thief could return at any time and spot the agents or the decoy cars at the FBI garage technicians installed the remote tracking devices in each vehicle they also equip the cars with remote kill switches that would allow agents to shut down the engines from a distance they put the cars back and waited [Music] days passed there was a nagging doubt in in all of our minds that maybe we had been discovered that perhaps he had seen one of us or a police officer going in and out of this apartment they were using to watch the car and Niles that he had seen somebody near the car and Rolling Meadows and that he was just going to back off these cars and never come back we weren't sure we just didn't know but we we were committed to watching these cars until something told us otherwise after a week the vigil paid off A van pulled up and a man approached one of the cars this was in my mind a Do or Die effort this is this is going to be our only shot if we miss this he's going to know around them they hoped they could peacefully end the Bandit's crime spree but no one had forgotten the last time the gunman was cornered foreign 1991 a Chicago area investigators watched two stolen cars they believed were going to be used in the bearded Bandits next hold up a man entered one of the cars special agent Hank Schmidt believed it was their suspect he matched the general physical description of the in the person we were looking for as the bearded robber we have a man the man had been dropped off at the vehicle by someone driving a van [Music] and a white man heading Southbound on the Alley when he drove away the van followed investigators could not identify either driver they had to be careful if the bearded banded and his accomplice spotted a tail they might start shooting but FBI technicians had installed a tracking device in the car allowing agents to follow at a distance the suspect parked the stolen car near a Suburban Bank hearing the news supervisory special agent Bill Keefe believed they finally found their target when the vehicle showed up in the vicinity of a bank our adrenaline really was pumped up and we really knew that we were going to have it this car was likely the first getaway car for the next day's robbery agents believe that two suspects would next pick up the second stolen car in Rolling Meadows standing down [Music] they were right [Music] that vehicle was also equipped with a tracking device 10-4 surveillance agents followed that car believed to be a secondary getaway car to a hardware store about 20 miles from the bank where the pair left it okay looks like he's getting back into the van with both suspects in the van agents no longer had the benefit of a tracking device and had to stay close they followed the van into Hanover Park Illinois and watched as it pulled up to a townhouse [Music] now special agent Dave childrey could identify the people inside we had a license plate and two vague descriptions of people a man and a woman normal record checks on that license plate would tell us that that van belonged to Jeffrey and Jill Erickson the FBI and police worked through the night to learn more done a lot of research calling police departments trying to see who these people were who were looking for a previous arrest record which we didn't find during this process we had received some information that Jeffrey Erickson had been a police officer in 1986 Jeffrey Erickson worked as a patrol officer in a Chicago suburb he distinguished himself as a skilled Marksman but he was uninterested in the everyday requirements of the job traffic stops paperwork he was about to be fired when he resigned records also showed that Jeffrey Erickson opened a used bookstore in early 1991. during the time The Bearded Bandit was on hiatus wife Jill a University chemistry student led a double life using bank robbery money to build a middle-class existence he might not have seemed threatening on the surface but special agent Schmidt knew he was our son because he's a trained individual he knows how we're going to react he can plan ahead for that and if he's trained with the weapon he's going to be more professional in the way he handles that weapon and he's going to be a bigger threat to us investigators considered waiting until the ericssons approached a bank the next day but decided not to risk a shootout near employees and customers we had enough that we did not have to get him in the vicinity of a bank the safest approach would be when he came to the car the stolen car we would arrest him while surveillance units watched the suspect's home a SWAT team set up near the car in the hardware store parking lot [Music] police chief John Kozel SWAT team set up on the uh the vehicles were very well aware of his background and knew that he may shoot first and they were taking that into account by the morning they were ready for the ericssons to make their move about mid-morning the surveillance units advised us that the van was in fact moving from the residence with at least two people they were heading in the direction of where we were watching the the stolen car the surveillance team advised us that Mr Erickson had got out of the vehicle in an adjoining parking lot drivers and the Vans walking uh the FBI had installed a kill switch in the stolen car which they could use to turn off the engine from a distance we watched him come around the corner from that other parking lot go to the vehicle and enter the vehicle and start that vehicle oh kill it Erickson was distracted by the car trouble okay let's go in the SWAT team moved in the car out of the car put your hands where I can say get back out of that bag out of the car put your hands where I can see them pressure enough to shoot or not shoot is a split second decision most law enforcement officers don't want to have to shoot an individual if they don't have to no one wants to take a life that way we felt like we controlled him out of the car after twice reaching for his bag Erickson finally followed orders he come out of the bag with a gun it would have been an entirely different situation I asked him as we were transporting him after the arrest to the federal lock-up you being a former police officer you would know that a gesture like that could get you shot and he looked at me and he said well I figured you'd shoot me in the head and it would be over with quickly in the car agents searched Erickson's bag and found the bearded Bandits tools loaded guns a police scanner gloves a beard and a wig his bank robbery kit in that bag it was very helpful to the case without that information or that evidence we just arrested a car thief having Jeffrey Erickson safely in custody was only half the job in the adjoining parking lot the SWAT team approached the van it might be Jill Erickson inside [Applause] agents scrambled to follow Chase barreled through 11 Suburban jurisdictions reaching speeds of 110 miles per hour [Music] a roadblock didn't work yeah and she had fired multiple rounds out of that van either at the pursuing agent or other people in traffic it was a big concern for the agents that she might hit an innocent civilian [Music] [Music] agents shot out the rear tires of the van but the driver was not giving up [Applause] in 1991 a suspected bank robber LED police and FBI agents on a dangerous Chase through the Chicago suburbs fleeing van turned into an area that investigators knew had no Outlet [Applause] as the van charged them they had to fire they saw movement inside [Music] an FBI agent cautiously approached the driver was wounded single self-inflicted gunshot [Music] it was Jill Erickson later that night in the hospital she died special agent Hank Schmidt we believed it may have been a pact that they had both come up with that they would not be arrested she that day carried out her part of the pack and that day he decided for whatever reason he didn't inside the van or spent cartridge casings blood fibers other ammunition other weapons there was a rifle with several hundred rounds of ammunition that whole neighborhood became an evidentiary nightmare there were bullets that Jill had fired stuck in the side of houses and cars on the street the FBI obtained a federal search warrant for the Ericsson's home we found some loose cash but what impressed me was the amount of Firepower in the house an arrest at that home would have would have evolved into a shootout in that home there was a weapon everywhere that you would find a picture or a statue or a knick-knack in any other home among the weapons found was the 223 caliber semi-automatic assault rifle used in the attack on officer Kevin Maher Chief John Kozo realized his shootout would have been deadly to both sides the weapons in his home were as good as any law enforcement has as far as Firepower goes most of the long guns he had those that type of ammunition would zip right through and officers bulletproof vest [Music] another Discovery in the house spoke to the couple's mindset one of the things that we found quite ironic was that television was on and the VCR was on and there was a Bonnie and Clyde tape in the VCR and it was queued up to the point where the Bonnie and Clyde are being shot to death in the movie and it was obvious that that was something they watched before they went out and did their bank robberies the one Robber was dead and one in custody the violence was not yet over [Music] Jeffrey Erickson's trial began on July 13 1992. the evidence compiled against him was strong in all conversations with the U.S attorney's Office the trial was going very well they were very uh upbeat about it and the evidence was in their mind going to be enough to convict him but then after court adjourned on July 20th 1992 two Deputy U.S Marshals loaded Ericsson and several jail inmates onto an elevator [Music] Erickson was still dressed for court the prisoners were headed for a van that would take them to the Metropolitan Correctional Center by the time the elevator reached the parking garage Erickson had somehow escaped his cups [Music] Erickson shot U.S Marshal Bill Frakes in the back and head killing him ambushed Frakes had not had time to draw his weapon as the gunman ran for the street court security officer and former Chicago police detective Harry belwomani confronted him [Music] Erickson shot the police veteran in the chest but before Bell woman he died he got off four rounds fatally wounding Ericsson the gunman was 40 feet from the crowded streets when he died the thing is all these resources were brought to bear on an individual he was captured and was being tried in court you you think the case is over but unfortunately the only person that could stop this individual turned out to be a very brave courageous policeman named Harry bellomini who while dying shot and killed Jeff Erickson a newlywed Bill Frakes was a promising young Lawman just nine months into his career Harry Bel woman he was a 31-year veteran and are also [Music] on his legacy [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] no matter who gets in the way in his wake he leaves terrified victims fleeting glimpses and few clues for the FBI agents on his Trail but they are determined to find him and end this Gunman's Reign of Terror [Music] [Music] in the late 1980s the FBI match wits with a cunning bank robber alone gunman responsible for the longest string of Unsolved bank robberies in FBI history I'm Jim calstrom former head of the FBI's New York office the robins planning was meticulous he executed his crimes with military precision it would take the combined skills of local police and dozens of agents to catch a criminal mastermind they called The Shootist San Diego California on November 5th 1987 the late morning quiet shatters with a gun blast in a local bank the gunman orders customers to the ground threatening to shoot whoever disobeys [Music] the robber forces the teller to fill his bag with money from all the cash drawers warning against alarms die packs or marked bills so I can see your hands go he avoids the vault which would take more time this robber hits hard and gets out fast employees call police immediately but even in the best case scenario it takes several seconds to get through to an operator and several minutes we dispatched units to arrive by then the gunman is long gone authorities conduct a full crime scene investigation although the man wore no gloves he was careful enough not to touch any surface and left behind no fingerprints bank robbery is a federal crime the case goes to the FBI bank robbery coordinator special agent Jack Kelly considers this gunman a top priority he's a takeover robber taking command of the entire Bank rather than slipping a teller a note it's a rare style used in less than five percent of bank robberies even on the Takeover style robbers of most of them didn't fire weapons in the bank so he was again even a smaller percentage of the small percentage of takeover over robbers that we had at the time so from that aspect he was considered to be much more aggressive and much more dangerous also he doesn't use a partner inside the bank as most takeover robbers do his violence has a profound effect on his victims the victims in a in a takeover to style robbery or are pretty traumatized by the event especially when there's shots fired in the bank and consequently you're uh descriptions can vary dramatically I mean as far as the age the height the weight everything some victims say he was wearing a disguise others disagree the differing descriptions are of no real help so agents turn to the bank's security camera photos we did have some surveillance pictures of mediocre quality at that time and it was not a great deal of assistance to us and trying to identify who this individual might have been the photos show only that the robber is a white male about six feet tall with a beard mustache agents face a serious challenge no evidence Left Behind no reliable description of the robber special agent Kelly believes it's not the Man's first time robbing the bank reviewing unsolved cases for similarities Kelly suspects the same man robbed another San Diego Bank a year earlier modus operandi was identical with someone Bank firing the gun in the ceiling vaulting the counter similar description the gunman left no evidence behind the fact that there were so few Clues it was an indication that this guy was pretty good and he he really probably planned these robberies very well soon agents learn the gunman is not finished in the area that's after he robbed the second time in San Diego he actually came back a month later and robbed a third time in San Diego using the identical Mo and firing the shots into the ceiling the robber's choice to fire his weapon makes him a deadly threat I don't think the robber that does something like this would hesitate to shoot somebody if somebody actually tried to stop him California as a rule special agent Kelly attaches code names to serial bank robbers to allow for shorthand communication among agents a catchy nickname increases publicity be more willing to pick up the story and to show pictures in the newspaper on television which would hopefully help us generate some leads Kelly dubs this one The Shootist for his distinctive and dangerous ammo her 14 1987 The Shootist Robs a fourth California Bank in Mission Viejo 70 miles north of San Diego it was my responsibility to review all the robberies that would come in from the surrounding Regional FBI offices FBI agents respond to the bank when and then robbing her as you do an investigation inside the bank itself for any evidence but you also do an investigation outside the bank to look for evidence or any possible witnesses that may have seen this individual and we did both on all these robberies yet they get nowhere like they're chasing a ghost so far The Shootist has stolen at least forty four thousand dollars but it's not just about the money agents worry that at some point he'll shoot someone we're dealing with somebody we thought that was going to become more and more Progressive during the course of his robberies and consequently more and more dangerous and it was something that definitely needed to be a adopted after a year-long absence from California The Shootist struck three times in five weeks Kelly suspects The Shootist must have hit somewhere in that year absence he's got to be somewhere else he's got to be Robin Banks somewhere else besides California checking with other FBI field offices Kelly discovers a string of similar unsolved robberies in Texas with dates that fit neatly into the gap between California robberies during one of the unsolved heists the gunman used this sort of violence agents of feared in July 1986 a white male with a beard in sunglasses hit a bank in Abilene Texas after firing his gun into the ceiling he forced the manager to fill his bag as in California he wanted only cash from the teller drawers and warned against alarms dye packs or marked bills the employees followed all instructions to survive but then [Music] the robber ran off leaving the bank manager writhing in pain from a gunshot to the abdomen on [Music] Texas Rangers the FBI and EMTs responded immediately the manager was Gravely injured but she survived the other Witnesses couldn't provide a solid description it happened so fast and they were so terrified they didn't get a good look at the gunman the crime scene investigation came up empty and the security cameras provided only more photos of a robber with obscured features special agent Kelly contacts the Texas Rangers who are working the unsolved robberies and investigators in the two states pool their information They Know The Shootist targets branches near Highway on-ramps for a quicker Escape the investigators agree The Shootist likely has a getaway driver but no car has been spotted each Heist is as clean as the last and no solid leads emerge [Music] The Shootist pulls off six more heists in Texas and California in 1988. investigators hope the media attention would continue they need someone who recognizes the gunman to call in a tip because of the danger of this individual hoping to get as much cooperation as we local newspapers would run pictures of this individual the local television stations ran pictures of this individual with the ongoing media coverage The Shootist Rises to infamy his is an astonishing spree 14 known Bank heists in three years all perfectly planned and executed The Shootist is destined to make FBI record books cunning adversary like they've never seen before by 1988 a man called The Shootist has robbed at least 14 banks in Texas and California special agent Jack Kelly it was well organized and plan things out well enough for he didn't leave a lot to track him with what he does leave behind are bullets fired into the ceiling if forensic examiners can find rifling marks on the Slugs they can run them through their ballistics database and if the gun has been used in other crimes they might get a lead on the gunman's identity but that's a lot of IFS ballistics experts determined the Slugs came from a 38 caliber revolver but there's a problem with finding traceable rifling characteristics the rounds that we did find pretty well damaged they weren't really going to be much benefit for identification as far as the rifling was concerned Shootist continues his spree his 17th known robbery is in the San Diego suburb of University City [Music] once again no hard evidence remains in the bank but outside investigators find signs of just how meticulous The Shootist is it appears that before the heist he loosened fence boards across his Escape Route so that after the robbery he could reach his getaway car faster special agent Kelly has chased more than a hundred robbers but this one's the most professional he's encountered by far and you had to give him some credit he was good you always had the hope that maybe there was some piece of evidence or some witness some other part of the puzzle that you could put together yet despite a full neighborhood campus Agents come up empty [Music] by the middle of 1989 The Shootist is made off with nearly two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and he's struck in at least 10 different cities anytime an individual is mobile and he's able to move from not only City to city but state to state it it really kind of complicates the investigation because there are multiple jurisdictions Kelly brings together law enforcement from around the country California and Texas FBI agents local police and Texas Rangers work together determined to find that one clue that is alluded more eyes and ears you have out there at the time the more likely you are to get a break and [Music] because The Shootist acts like a professional agents suspect he has an arrest record for robbery are released from prison and maybe going back to their old ways again investigators asked about bank robbers released from prison in 1986. when the shooter's spree began but it's a dead end no one recognizes the man in the surveillance photos it's difficult to determine what the man really looks like and the hair the uh mustache it didn't appear to be real and was extremely dark in color the task force concludes The Shootist likely uses elaborate disguises wigs mustaches even makeup to change his complexion when we first realized that he was probably wearing disguise as we actually took a number of the surveillance pictures to different costume shops agents show shop employees the photos asking if they recognize the man or the disguises but it's another dead end investigators analyzed the shootist's bank robberies hoping to find a pattern they compare the amounts taken to the frequency of the heists and determine The Shootist spends about three thousand dollars a week when he runs low on money he hits another bank we were able to see not necessarily a pattern but you knew that he was going to need money after a certain period of time investigators note The Shootist usually strikes on Mondays and Fridays and often robs different branches of the same banking companies there are hundreds of Bank branches in the general area where he hits he was he was just a kid in a candy store out there with trying to select where he wanted to Rob next and and it was our job to try to out guess him the team sets up surveillance on branches of the banks the shooter seems to favor they watch on Mondays and Fridays the robber's favorite days it's a long shot problem we had was we had absolutely no idea where exactly it would hit so many branches so many targets Manpower is limited predicting which bank he'll hit next proves impossible bank robbers often use casinos to launder stolen money the task force sends Bank surveillance photos to Casino security offices one California Casino responds with a good lead a regular High Roller there looks a lot like The Shootist they were willing enough to give us the their surveillance photos of the individual that they had suspected agents Tracked Down The Man and interview Him special agent Manuel with the FBI it does resemble The Shootist but he has solid Alibis for the robbery dates investigators eliminate him as a suspect [Music] another lead crossed off the list on June 23 1989 The elusive Shootist strikes in Arlington Texas his 18th known Heist he has now hit Banks over a 1400 mile area this time a teller slips an exploding die pack into his bag when it blows it renders the stolen money unusable a few hours later The Shootist robs another bank he's never struck twice in one day it's a reckless move fear he's becoming more desperate [Music] special agent Kelly fears it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt [Music] the more robberies that he did in the more times he shot the weapon including the time he shot the teller down in Texas that's a great concern to law enforcement obviously because this individual we thought would had a lot of potential for possibly killing someone eventually and the way The Shootist operates he could take his next victim anywhere at any time [Music] in the late 80s a team of investigators from Texas and California hunts The Shootist a cunning bank robber who begins each heist with gunfire grabs the cash fast then disappears without a trace [Music] as the robberies pile up The Shootist becomes Infamous in the western U.S police community everyone's on the lookout special agent Jack Kelly anytime in any jurisdiction that the shoes our Communications to the other offices as quickly as possible providing them with whatever information we have in the way of maybe some new clues or new Witnesses or or any better surveillance photographs from the photos the task force determines The Shootist likely uses a Smith Wesson 38 revolver handgun popular with police departments investigators also notice he indexes his finger on the side of his weapon just as officers are trained to do it's an ominous possibility The Shootist might be a cop you come here even if he's not an officer he used to know how they operate [Music] investigators suspect he goes as far as surveilling local officers to learn their patrol routes and then chooses targets away from those roots to increase police response time The elusive gunman treats bank robbery like a profession and his planning is paid off in more than 20 robberies [Music] investigators welcome the continuing media coverage they know their best chance of finding The Shootist might be through the Public's help one witness in particular provides an interesting lead after the 1989 heist in Mission Viejo a resident near the rob bank saw a man climb into the trunk of a car which then sped off he described the car as a red four-door with California plates but he didn't see the driver would get the plate number [Music] agents run checks on every car that fits the description in California but there are thousands it would take months to track down each car but the sighting does confirm one's suspicion we found out a bit he obviously hit and accomplice in these robberies on March 30th 1990 The Shootist robs the same Texas Bank he hit a year earlier to investigators the repeat job means he's getting even more brash unafraid of being recognized by anyone by the end of 1990 the task force ties The Shootist to 27 robberies that have netted him nearly four hundred thousand dollars all without a single usable print left behind he was very cautious about vaulting the counters not to touch things even going out the doors he would hit the doors with his elbows or his hip to push him open somehow agents need to find a way into The Shootist secretive world they take the case to behavioral profilers at the FBI Academy in Quantico Virginia about the guy's personality studying details of each known robbery the FBI profiler creates a behavioral sketch of The Shootist because most criminals start working in their comfort zone the profiler suspects The Shootist is from Texas where the first robberies occurred the gunman's level of precision indicates possible military training come here since The Shootist has gone so long without anyone turning him in the profiler suggests the robber has only one fiercely loyal accomplice and experience with other takeover robbers makes the profiler Believe The Shootist will grow more violent as his spree continues it's possible the gunman will choose a shootout over surrender this guy's going to be willing to shoot his way out of the bank or even take hostages to make an escape from the bank if he's cornered [Music] from 1991. did you actually see a gun The Shootist expands his Turf into Northern California robbing a San Jose Bank of fifteen thousand dollars San Jose detective Sergeant Jack Baxter we never found a witness is to where he went what kind of car he had did he have accomplices we had no idea this time The Shootist leaves something behind a partial palm print is found on the counter foreign [Music] law enforcement agencies don't include palm prints in their files the task force is back to square one two months later The Shootist Robs a Bank in Bellevue Washington just outside Seattle he's expanding his territory Seattle was now in the loop now we knew that he was broadening his Horizons and other states The elusive Bandit is one of the most prolific and widespread robbers in modern FBI history 1991 The Five-Year statute of limitations expires on his earliest robberies so he can't be charged for them agents are racing the clock well he was a violent multi-state bank robber who was very successful been hitting every uh six to eight weeks and no one had a clue as to who he was or where he was from in August The Shootist Robs a Bank in Los Altos California bringing his known total to 474 457 dollars investigators find a solid clue of false mustache first evidence recovered that might be physically linked directly to The Shootist but at the time DNA analysis is expensive and time consuming and they have no suspect profile to compare it to unfortunately that wasn't of any evidentiary value to us other than the fact that we confirmed that he was wearing a disguise obviously by the end of 1991 investigators linked The Shootist to 33 armed robberies in 18 cities investigators have nothing they need a break and soon investigating the longest string of Unsolved bank robberies in modern FBI history agents have little but grainy photos of the man they call The Shootist in it they see the robber is wearing something beneath his shirt FBI special agent Jack Kelly first we thought it might have been body armor put under closer scrutiny it appeared that this thing was really covering the lower abdomen and back portion of his body it could be a brace meaning The Shootist might have a bad back although he really didn't display that with his ability to to Vault the teller counters but these back braces were probably just to support his ability to be able to do that determined to run down every lead investigators contact chiropractors in the areas near the banks but they have only blurry surveillance photos of a disguised man and they can't get to every doctor in three states and quite a few chiropractors but we did Cover as many as we possibly could and we really didn't have any luck it's another dead end in the years-long search for the mysterious Bandit 1992 brings seven more Shootist heists including the repeat robbery of the bank in Bellevue Washington new Total nearly six hundred thousand dollars Seattle FBI special agent Don Glasser tried to process the bank for fingerprints extensive interviews of the witnesses and uh are found at wildest hope would some would say yes I saw them get into a specific car oh my uh but no one saw anything there is this concern that you're not serving the public well that here's a man that's allowed to come in and do a bank robbery and fire a shot and eventually there could be an accident or an intentional shooting and uh you know you feel it's frustration that you didn't do everything you could although you can't think of anything else that to be done they must stop the shoots before he graduates during a heist in San Jose the shootist's luck begins to Wade this time before he vanishes the bank security camera catches the best shots yet of his face the San Jose police forensic artist uses the photos to build a composite sketch of what The Shootist would look like without his disguises recreating features that are obscured requires a thorough knowledge of human physiology and a remarkable artistic eye patients blanket the target areas with the sketch asking crime stopper programs to air it regularly and placing it in dozens of banks [Music] San Jose detective Sergeant Jack Baxter we thought that in order to get this guy we needed to help the community we needed somebody to call in with information something that they had seen or heard on May 11 1994 investigators get the break they need an anonymous caller says he knows The Shootist though it's no slam dunk the information was fairly generic the name that was given was was Johnny Williams or John Williams and then he also supposedly used the name of Robert Hall the caller says Williams is about 40 years old drives a red four-door and has a devoted accomplice his wife he says Williams is always armed has a hair triggered temper and has vowed never to be taken alive in fact he and his wife have a suicide pact if they're ever cornered this is a good tip but the case is far from over those names are so common that there were literally hundreds of Johnny Williams and Robert Halls that we had to go through and we try to narrow the list down to the ones that were approximately the same age as our as the caller had given agents call through California DMV records and find a Johnny Madison Williams and a Robert Hall that appear in their photos to be the same man they then compare the photos to the composite sketch it was an exact match for the sketch done by our police artist that's as if he had done it right off the picture so we knew that we had the right guy California fingerprints drivers the DMV fingerprint records confirm Hall and Williams are the same man Johnny Madison Williams is a former Marine from Texas and has a record for robbery theft there [Music] William's wife Carol bought a 38 revolver like the one in Bank security footage and Carol drives a red four-door registered in her maiden name investigators find no legitimate source of income yet the couple lives in a 350 000 house overlooking the ocean in Los Osos California FBI special agent Jim Wilkins the area where he was living was on High Ground overlooking Morro Bay it was an affluent area that actually had one Road in it's an exposed area where agents might stand out as strangers we did not know where Johnny Williams was at the time despite the risk FBI agents have to check the house they find a spot they hope is obscured and set up surveillance we knew he carried a weapon we knew he would use it we also had information from the anonymous tipster that he carried that weapon all the time the agents see no sign that anyone's at the house the team watches and waits we had made a contingency plan that if we saw Williams returning in that vehicle we would do a felony car stop before he got into the neighborhood where we had safe fields of fire and where there were no Escape Routes for him in his vehicle agents watched the house for several days but the couple fails to show the end of the shift investigators suspect The Shootist is off preparing for another Heist Jack Kelly has a hunch it will be in the Seattle area The Shootist is robbed there in one year intervals and the year is up Kelly contacts Seattle special agent Don Glasser he said it's definitely going to happen and he's going to definitely Rob in your area so be on the lookout it's just a hunch but it's all they have Glasser hits the streets looking for the red car I was out of the office and on the street so I could be in the vicinity of the Bellevue area getting very antsy very excited about being prepared to respond to a dispatch saying that there was a 91. um a bank robbery July 1st 1994 The Shootist strikes again he Robs a Bank in Kirkland Washington just 10 miles north of where special agent Glasser is on patrol looking for him after his trademark gunshot The Shootist orders a teller to load his bag with cash as before he warns against bait bills or die packs and threatens to shoot if she tries anything the teller accidentally drops wooden paperweights in the bag which the shootest mistakes for die packs he's enraged [Music] July 1st 1994 The Shootist commits his 48th bank robbery frightened teller angers the robber but she is spared the gunman runs out without firing another shot and disappears before police in the FBI can respond last night investigators get word of the latest robbery special agent Jack Kelly's hunch about Seattle was right we knew where he was at this point at least what vicinity of the country he was in in the general Seattle area Kelly has already flagged Williams credit cards so he'll be notified if one is used just after the Kirkland robbery the plan works I was fortunate to be able to get some information from one particular credit card company that had a recent transaction up in the state of Washington at a particular Hotel up there Seattle special agent Don Glasser rushes to the hotel I went up there very excited I know now we've got some real good information the hotel is in Bothell 10 miles from the latest rob bank Johnny Williams used a credit card in the name of his Alias Robert Hall to check in but there's no guarantee he's still there I drove through the parking lot I saw the red card sitting in a parking lot nose in in the parking space when Glasser calls in the plate number it comes back registered to Carol Williams under her maiden name of Hawkins if Williams is still in the hotel they must be careful not to tip him off or create a barricade or hostage situation what I really need from you is I need you to look at this picture okay the manager recognizes suspect Johnny Williams as Robert Hall and says he and his wife have not checked out to immediately call Jack Kelly back I gave him a news and suggested he'd get an airplane fly north and he was already packing his bags at that point in the investigation I was very excited eye contacted my counterpart Jack Baxter from the San Jose PD told him they had the guy not only we got him identified but also we know where he is so Jack hopped on a plane and I hopped on a plane Glasser also calls for reinforcements from the Seattle police and FBI we made sure that none of our agents were our radios guns rate jackets FBI ball caps any kind of identifying ask them to act normal when they're moving around within minutes more agents and detectives quietly arrive and set up a perimeter we made sure that no FBI four-door as we call them G rides were visible to this guy that we would use surveillance vehicles if we happen to casually look out as a window he wouldn't see anything unusual happening outside we set up locations of completely surrounding the the hotel we rented a couple rooms that would give us a base to operate from so there was no way to even walk out if he detected us that he might try and Escape we made sure we had it really covered rather than Rush the room the investigators decide to wait until they get a visual ID of Williams yeah made sure we had an eyeball on his door at all times by Nightfall detective Baxter and special agent Kelly arrived from California detective Jack Baxter we didn't want to move too fast we had to have patience and we wanted to make sure we could arrest him in a way that nobody was going to get hurt the agents want to take Williams into custody outside his room in case he has guns inside definitely here as dinner time approach we hope that we'd see him come down and go to eat or something like that and we were prepared to arrest him if he did that hours passed with no sign of Williams or his wife while they watch investigators have to stay under the shootist's radar and not use Police radios we had been told he had a scanner so we had to be careful what we said on the radio for fear of tipping him off that that we were there it does appear someone is in the room special agent Jack Kelly there was a light on in there you can see the light and all the drapes were drawn we could see the flashing of the television in there after seven years agents and police May finally have The Shootist cornered [Music] after an eight-year search the FBI believes they have traced Johnny Madison Williams The Shootist to a Washington state hotel room full day and night of surveillance passes with no movement from the room in the morning agents devise a roost to see if their suspect is actually there they recruit a hotel employee to help investigators show the man what their target looks like and ask him to knock on the door to ask a maintenance question and get a good look at whoever's inside despite the danger the employee has to act natural if Williams gets spooked he could turn violent the door opens the hotel employee asks when would be a good time to change the room's air filters detective Jack Baxter our suspect told him that he was going to leave in an hour so he could come back in an hour and change the filters well he ran back to us and positively identified him as being in the room we had the room secured so there's no way he was going to get out now they know The Shootist is definitely there and in an hour he should emerge I want everybody in place in 40 an hour passes then two Williams could be on to them but then an opportunity presents itself special agent Jack Kelly there was a phone call from that room down to the front desk and he had asked if he could borrow a typewriter because he wanted to write a letter to someone he was asking the people at the front desk if they could bring the typewriter up to the room instructed him not to do that on the FBI's order the manager tells Williams he's welcome to use the typewriter in an office near the front desk which he agreed to say be down shortly the small office is a good place for an arrest away from the public no chance of Escape [Music] special agent Don Glasser we quickly go to the room decide where the typewrit is going to be do a little quick rearranging of furniture so that we can go into that room once he's in there not be obstructed by Furniture we have a nice clean path to get in as a final touch investigators place a sheet listing the Miranda arrest rights in the typewriter then hide in an adjacent room and wait for the word from their men outside after 40 tenths minutes a man leaves the room and heads toward the front desk it's Johnny Williams but we saw him walking across the parking lot absolutely no question our mind that is him we recognized him as if he were our best friend he just left his room he's on his way to the lobby this is it the culmination of an eight-year Chase [Music] he walked into the front desk and they instructed him to go over to this office Mr Williams to walk behind the front desk and went over there [Music] Williams is cornered cut off from Escape agents know he is dangerous they are prepared for the worst [Music] but he is completely caught off guard agents take him into custody without a struggle he is unarmed because of the investigators careful planning it's a perfectly quiet arrest my column by his true name I said you know Johnny Madison Williams Jr you know it's over and his head kind of dropped next agents have to get William's wife Carol we figured there was no reason to charge into the room that we just wait long enough and she would come down in fact she did [Music] right now foreign she came out of the room and she was going to her car stepped out and took her into custody there without incident raise FBI are under arrest place your hands where I can see them place them on top of the car [Music] okay once again a safe arrest s now agents go looking for evidence he provided a consent to search Israel and in that room he had a couple scanners he had handy talkies he had disguises he had money they also discovered the shootist's own notes a log of all his robberies record of the bank robbery very very organized the date the day of the week information on the total the address of the bank the name of it has Bank very very very uh incriminating evidence investigators find more in William's car two pistols they were in the trunk of his car we recognized the four inch 38 revolver from the pictures surveillance pictures we knew we had the right weapon he had a two inch revolver that we hadn't seen before both of them were loaded the investigators separate Williams and his wife while they await transport to an FBI office for booking Williams agrees to talk we linked them to I think a total of 48 robberies you know when I did the interview that he asked me this is how many do you have me for I said well how many do you think we have a fortune he says oh he says you know you wouldn't be here the rest of me and know my name and everything else you probably have all 56. Williams goes on to detail each of the 48 robberies the FBI know about plus eight they don't the entire interview eventually lasted about 12 hours and I was writing constantly I mean I had writer's cramp at the end of the year 12 hours with all the information he was providing Johnny Madison Williams took his work seriously casing banks for weeks outlining intricate escape plans he says he wore the brace after injuring his back in a car accident and frequented chiropractors just not the ones investigators got to knowing the FBI would try to trace his disguises he stocked up in Dallas before he started his robbery spree he tells agents he studied police routes radio dispatch codes all that work brought him close to a million dollars in stolen cash until Authority stopped him right if it wasn't just the agents and officers working the case who solved it many times it's the assistance of the public that that leads to the capture and uh successful resolution of these cases it's very important I think no more so than now with the terrorism threat is that important Carol Williams pleads guilty and receives 20 years for her role in The Shootist robberies her husband Johnny Madison Williams The Shootist himself also pleads guilty to the 27 robberies still under the statute of limitations he is sentenced to 92 years in federal prison his unprecedented Reign finally over [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Real Stories

Views: 3,333,765

Keywords: Bank Heists, Bank Robbery Series, Bank Robbery Techniques, Crime Scene Analysis, Criminal Conspiracies, Criminal Investigations, Criminal Investigations Unit, Criminal Manhunt Operations, Criminal Masterminds, Criminal Minds, Criminal Psychology, Dangerous Fugitives, FBI Cases, FBI Detectives, FBI Informants, FBI Pursuits, Gang Robberies, Notorious Criminals List, True Crime Exposés, True Crime Stories

Id: QNSh-3XZnWA

Length: 149min 23sec (8963 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 30 2023