Man Arrested for Allegedly Robbing Chicago Bank at Gunpoint

CHRISTOPHER PORTER, 49, of Chicago, is charged with one count of bank robbery for allegedly robbing a Fifth Third Bank branch, 3957 W. 26th St. in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, on Feb. 4, 2021.  Porter made an initial court appearance Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez.  He waived his right to a detention hearing and was ordered to remain in federal custody.

According to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Porter entered the bank shortly after 5:00 p.m. and demanded that a teller place cash in a bag.  Porter then put a customer in a headlock, pointed a gun at the customer’s head, and repeatedly said he would shoot the customer if the teller did not comply with his demand, the complaint states.  The teller put cash in a bag and handed it to Porter, who fled the bank, the complaint states.  The FBI arrested Porter later that evening in the parking lot of a Chicago apartment complex about four miles from the bank.

The arrest and complaint were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paige A. Nutini.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  The robbery charge is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.