“Sixty Second Painters” Rob Charter One Bank.
by Ed Vincent

On April 9, 2003 the Charter One Bank located at 810 South
Oak Park Avenue (formerly Hinsdale Federal Savings). The
robbery only took a mere 60 seconds or so and the three black
men in their mid 20's wore all white painters disposable uniforms easily available from any Home Depot or Menards. 

They had their feet covered and even wore disposable dust masks, also readily available.  When they entered the Bank they confronted the Security officer, who is not a Police Officer, and neutralized his presence immediately.  The bank manager was next, he was on the phone when a robber entered and made him hang the phone up and crawl out of his office.  There were now some ten patrons on the floor, among them were two children. 

The robbers did not try to get into the vault, but rather headed for the cash in tellers drawers.  The men were in and out in 60 seconds and no one was harmed, even though guns were shown.  It is felt that these men did their homework and did it well.  Part of their homework was to determine a soft target, not like the
recent series of robberies that had been happening at the TCF
banks in Jewel stores.  These men knew that you there are
too many witnesses in a Jewel, too great a chance that an
off duty police officer might be in a check out line.  Years 
ago all the banks had real police officers in them, some off duty
and some retired.  Today many banks have no police at all and
some have only security people.  When a smart robber plans
a robbery he looks for the soft spots and reduced threat to their
plan.  An off duty police officer makes things more difficult
and would only be chosen if there were no softer targets.  No
one wants a gun fight in any bank, but robbers will go where
it is easy.  Charter One Bank was a sixty second job and the
loss was given to be $20,000.00. 

The FBI interviewed the patrons for hours that afternoon and
some could offer little more than what had been photographed
or relayed by the guard and the workers.  Some did not even
know the race of the men (they were black), the painters
outfits worked fine in focusing the people’s attention on the
uniform and not the men.  This is the first case of the “Sixty 
Second Painters” and perhaps the last.  If you have a cell
phone though and you see a crew of men going into a bank
with painters clothes on and with their faces covered, it would
be good of you to call 911.