Crime & Safety

Inside the Homewood Bank Robbery: "Don't Take It Personal"

A criminal complaint filed in court against the two men accused of robbing the Homewood Bank of America details the grisly details of what went on inside.

The two men allegedly responsible for robbing the Bank of America Branch in Homewood Wednesday morning have been identified by the FBI.

Malcom Carpenter, 32, of Chicago and Justin Williams, 23, of Calumet Park were arrested Wednesday afternoon following a manhunt conducted by the Homewood Police Department, the FBI and the South Suburban Emergency Response Team.

Carpenter walked in first just after 10:30 a.m. and asked to speak with a manager so he could open a new corporate bank account, according to the criminal complaint filed in court.

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Williams then entered the bank and walked into the manager’s cubical office and pulled out a handgun, then said “get the f*** off the phone.”

That prompted Carpenter to pull out his handgun and yell “this is a robbery, nobody move.” All bank employees were ordered to get to the floor while Carpenter took the manager to the vault and demanded, at gunpoint, that he open it, the complaint reads. Carpenter pulled out a canvas bag and ordered the manager to fill it. 

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In the process of filling the bag, the manager also tossed in an anti-theft device, unbeknownst to the criminals. As he was doing it, Carpenter was alleged to have said “Don’t take it personal.”

When Carpenter was through with the vault, he moved over to a teller and demanded that she dump her drawer into his bag, the FBI says. “Where’s the rest of it?” was his response.

As the robbery was going on, one employee was on the phone with an employee of another Bank of America branch in Oak Lawn. The other employee recognized that a robbery was taking place and called the police.

Meanwhile, another man, only referred to right now as “Individual A,” was stopped next to the apartment buildings behind Cherry Creek. He had a large amount of cash in his possession, as well as a key to a gray 1998 Volvo GLT—the would-be getaway car, which was parked directly in front of the apartment building, according to the complaint. Residents confirmed it did not belong there.

After stealing money from the teller drawer, the two robbers fled the scene, running to the apartment buildings west of the south end of Cherry Creek Plaza, the complaint reads. Cops then evacuated the nearby apartment of its residents and began searching for the robbers. 

They eventually found the two men waiting in the aforementioned gray Volvo, along with the bag of $80,288 in stolen cash and two loaded handguns—one of which was charged with a round in the chamber, according to the complaint.

The two men were each charged with one count of bank robbery. Williams is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 9 a.m. Carpenter’s appearance date has yet to be set. Details on “Individual A” were not immediately available.


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