Lunchbag Bandit Caught By GPS
Sharkey Elam, better known by police investigators as the “Lunchbag Bandit”, was a serial bank robber with a long history of involvement in criminal activity. Serving considerable time in state prison on three separate occasions in 89′, 93′ and 97′ for crimes related to bank robbery, Elam was known on a first name basis with numerous police officers in the Chicago area. However, multiple stints in prison and bank robbery convictions over three decades did little to curb the appetite Elam had for breaking the law. This was validated when a GPS tracking system placed in a stack of money during a bank robbery resulted in likely the final arrest of the Lunchbag Bandit.
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GPS Tracker Ends Bandit’s Bank Robbery Career
Elam was fortunate to get second and third chances to change his life, after time in jail, but the 67-year-old man simply couldn’t leave his past life in the past. What the Lunchbag Bandit was doing was robbing banks at a furious pace, knocking off at least six since the beginning portion of December according to authorities. With his success probably came a sense of invincibility, but the Lunchbag Bandit got more than he bargained for when he demanded cash from a teller at First American Bank located at 33. West Monroe.
When the Lunchbag Bandit walked up to a First American Bank teller he demanded cash in $100 denominations. The teller complied with the demands but was crafty enough to also include some bait money with a real-time tracker device. Although the Lunchbag Bandit may have gotten away with some of his past robberies the real-time tracking unit would make certain this time he would not evade police.
Roughly 20 minutes after the Lunchbag Bandit escaped from the First American Bank he had robbed, Chicago authorities were able to acquire the data from the real-time tracker device, determine his position and make an arrest. One of the Chicago area’s most persistent robbers was in custody. Currently, the Lunchbag Bandit is being held without bail while prosecutors gather evidence to show his involvement in not only the First American Bank robbery but other bank robberies throughout the area.
When officers were interviewed about catching the Lunchbag Bandit they were quick to state that the personal tracking device was critical in getting a fast and accurate arrest.
Matthew is a freelance writer who is passionate about technology, music, photography, and decentralized finance.
