CTA trains rerouted following bank robbery on Near North Side
SUN-TIMES MEDIA WIRE March 2, 2012 11:34AM
CTA trains from the Lincoln Park area to the Near South Side were being diverted from their usual routes as police search for a bank robber on the Near North Side Friday morning. Because of police activity at the Red Line station at Chicago and State, Red Line trains are rerouted to the elevated tracks between Fullerton and Cermak-Chinatown. Police responded to a bank holdup alarm at 800 N. State St. and Chicago Dept. fire crews responded to a HazMat situation near the CTA Red Line station. Police on scene after dye pack exploded in a bag containing the money from the bank robbery near the Red Line platform near Clark and Division, and a suspect was taken into custody. Friday, March 2, 2012 . | John H. White~Sun-Times.
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Updated: March 2, 2012 12:39PM
CTA trains from the Lincoln Park area to the Near South Side were temporarily diverted from their usual routes as police searched for a bank robber on the Near North Side on Friday morning.
About 11 a.m., the North Community Bank branch at 800 N. State St. was robbed, FBI spokeswoman Joan Hyde said. She had no details on the robbery, but said the suspect was described as a black man about 5-foot-6, who was bald and wore a blue jacket.
Police and FBI agents responded to the scene, and because of police activity at the Red Line station at Chicago and State, Red Line trains were rerouted to the elevated tracks between Fullerton and Cermak-Chinatown, according to the CTA.
About that same time, fire crews responded to a HazMat situation in the same area, near the CTA Red Line station.
Unconfirmed dispatch reports said a dye pack exploded in a bag containing the money from the bank robbery near the Red Line stop at Clark and Division, and a suspect was taken into custody. Neither police nor the FBI could confirm that report.
A Fire Media Affairs spokesman said firefighters responded to 800 N. State for a report of fumes in the subway, but could not could not confirm the dye pack reports. The situation was secured without injury.
Additionally, because of police activity at the Brown Line station at Chicago and Franklin, Brown Line trains were bypassing that station for awhile Friday, the CTA said.
By about 11:45 a.m., Red Line trains were moving again through the subway, but those trains were experiencing residual delays, according to the CTA.
The northbound Brown Line trains were stopping once again at the Chicago and Franklin station by 11:30 a.m., the CTA said.
There have been at least 36 bank robberies in the Chicago area this year, according to the FBI. Last year there were 115.
