A nattily dressed man robbed the Chesterton branch of Chase Bank on Wednesday afternoon, then caught a break and made a successful getaway from the traffic-congested and train-plagued Downtown.

The robbery occurred around 2 p.m., when a male subject walked into Chase Bank at 109 Broadway and waited in line behind a single customer, then demanded money, Det. Dan Rocha of the Chesterton Police Department told the Chesterton Tribune late Wednesday. He did not display a weapon of any kind nor did he imply one, Rocha said.

The teller handed the suspect an undisclosed amount of money, which he placed in an envelope apparently brought along for the purpose, then exited the bank, Rocha said. A witness subsequently advised investigators that the suspect next walked east on Broadway, crossed South Calumet Road, and got into a faded red Oldsmobile four-door passenger car parked in front of Anton Insurance Agency at 155 S. Calumet. The suspect was last seen headed westbound on Broadway, Rocha said, avoiding the Norfolk Southern grade-crossing as well as the re-surfacing project on Indian Boundary Road.

The CPD flooded the scene with six units, a seventh officer who was off duty, and a Porter Police officer, but they were unable to locate the suspect. A canvas of the neighborhood did produce the witness who observed the suspect flee the scene, and Police Chief George Nelson thanked the businesses for their help.

The suspect was described as a black male, around 6’ 0’’ in height, well dressed in business casual attire and wearing a tan beret and sunglasses.

No one was hurt, Rocha said. Numerous employees were in the bank at the time but most were in their offices at the time and unaware of the robbery.

Wednesday’s bank robbery is the third this year in the Town of Chesterton. 1st Source Bank at 800 Indian Boundary Road, the former site of the Porter County Visitors Center, has been robbed twice, the first time on Jan. 25, the second on April 7, but suspect descriptions would appear to indicate that all three bank robberies are unrelated. The suspect in the Jan. 25 job was described as white male in his thirties, around 5’ 8’’ in height with a thin build and blond hair; the suspect in the April 7 job, as a Hispanic male, 30 to 35 years of age, 5’ 8’’ to 5’ 9’’ in height and 165 to 185 pounds in weight. Both suspects in the first two jobs implied possession of a gun.

Anyone with information on Wednesday’s robbery is asked to contact the CPD Detective Bureau at 926-1136.

Posted 5/22/2008