Wausau bank robbery suspect arrested in Illinois, accused of scaring teller into giving him $850
WAUSAU – A 55-year-old man who was arrested Thursday in Illinois is accused of robbing a Wausau bank by handing a teller a note that read “50s. $100s, Now!” and motioning as if he had a weapon.
A court document says the thief got away with $850, money he might have been using to impress a woman he met on a blind date.
According to a news release from the Wausau Police Department, officers arrested Tommy Pittman in Freeport, Illinois, Thursday morning. Pittman previously lived in Illinois but is a Wausau resident, officials say.
The Marathon County District Attorney’s Office has charged Pittman with robbery of a financial institution in connection with the holdup at WoodTrust Bank, 210 E. Bridge St. The charge is a felony.
According to the criminal complaint, a bank employee told police a man walked up to her teller station on May 20 and said he wanted to make a withdrawal from a savings account, and she gave him a withdrawal slip. He went to a table in the lobby to fill out the slip, and when he returned to the teller’s station, he handed her the slip that said “50s. $100s, Now!”
The teller told police when she asked for identification, the man said he didn’t have any. He put his hand in his front sweatshirt pocket, and she told police she thought he was implying he was holding a weapon.
According to the complaint, the teller told police she unlocked her cash drawer and followed instructions, giving the man $50 and $100 bills. She told police she thought he said “thank you” before turning and walking out of the bank. Employees then called 911 to report the robbery.
When the remaining cash was counted, $850 was missing.
According to the report, the man kept walking down Chicago Avenue after leaving the bank.
Another woman later told police she had been previously set up on a blind date with Pittman, who called her Friday and told her he had money now. The woman told police Pittman was trying to buy her affection because he knew she didn’t have a lot of money.
When the woman saw a news article posted online with a photo from the security footage, she told police she immediately knew it was Pittman.
According to the complaint, two other people told police they believed Pittman was the man who robbed the bank and had recognized the clothes the suspect had been wearing.
Wausau detectives received information Tuesday that suggested Pittman was in the Freeport, Illinois area, and they contacted the police department there to share information, according to the report. Wausau and Freeport police worked together to make the arrest, according to the news release.
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Contact Caitlin at cshuda@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @CaitlinShuda.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Wausau bank robbery suspect arrested in Freeport, Illinois, charged
