It started out like any other Tuesday in Munster…
Imagine for just a moment walking into your bank on your Tuesday lunch hour to get some cash out of your account. You’re waiting in line for the next available teller like everyone else when who walks in? A man in a hazmat suit.
You think, “huh? I wonder what’s going on. Maybe a CO2 leak?... I should leave and come back, maybe.”
Your intuition gnaws at you enough to try to leave. Something was about to go very wrong – you could feel it in the pit of your stomach – but what? You weren’t completely sure.
You would find out soon enough: this was no affair involving hazardous materials, this was a bank job. The man in the hazmat suit approached a teller and handed over a note… he never showed a weapon, but he did heavily imply that he had one.
This story was no figment of Hollywood b movie action lore. It really happened almost a week ago at a Munster, Indiana (population: just a hair under 23 thousand people) branch of Fifth Third Bank. Munster is located relatively near Chicago and its more populated closer relative Hammond, Indiana (76 thousand and change population).
The hazmat suit did its intended job and obscured enough of the suspect’s features to prevent easy identification. Witnesses described only a tall, lean, African-American male.
The man fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The Munster Police Department is asking that anyone with knowledge of the robbery leave their information on the secure tip line at 219-836-6678.