Suspect Arrested in “Nuns on the Run” Bank Robbery

A 23-year-old Chicago woman has been arrested and charged in connection with the armed robbery of the TCF Bank branch, located at 6410 West 127th Street in southwest suburban Palos Heights over the Memorial Day weekend.

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), was joined by George T. Yott, Chief of the Palos Heights, Illinois Police Department (PHPD) in announcing the arrest of NAVAHCIA L. EDWARDS, whose last known address was in the 4000 block of West 115th Street. EDWARDS was arrested earlier today, without incident, by FBI special agents and officers of the PHPD at a residence in Lansing, Illinois.

EDWARDS was charged in a criminal complaint filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count of bank robbery, which is a felony offense. According to the complaint, two robbers, one of whom was subsequently identified as EDWARDS, burst into the Palos Heights bank on May 29, brandishing handguns and dressed in what witnesses described as black nun habits. They also had their faces concealed with masks of elderly women and wore gloves.

After securing the bank, the robbers forced the two bank employees on duty to the vault area, where they were ordered at gun point to open the vault. The robbers then placed in excess of $120,000 in bank funds into a small gym bag which they had brought with them. The robbers then tied up both bank employees with zip ties before fleeing the area in a waiting vehicle, believed to be a newer model Chevrolet sedan.

No shots were fired and no injuries were reported during the robbery but both bank employees were shaken by the experience.

Subsequent investigation by the FBI and PHPD developed evidence linking EDWARDS to the robbery, including the purchase of two “Nuns on the Run” costumes from an online party and novelty merchant and plastic Zip Ties from a local hardware store. The second individual involved in this robbery has not yet been identified and remains at-large.

EDWARDS appeared earlier today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason in Chicago, at which time she was formally charged. EDWARDS was ordered held without bond, pending her next court appearance, which is scheduled for July 7. Until then, she will be held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. If convicted of the charge filed against her, EDWARDS faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Additional information about this and other unsolved Chicago area bank robberies, including downloadable photographs, is available at the Bandit Tracker website, www.bandittrackerchicago.com.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Copies of the criminal complaint filed in this case are available from the Chicago FBI’s press office at (312) 829-1199.