Bank Robbey Foiled By GPS Device

Minutes after an armed bank robbery in Calumet City, Illinois, the three suspects met up at the home of one of their parents in neighboring Dolton IL. Before they could count the GPS laced cash, they heard police approaching.

Timothy Rucker, 33, Phillip Griffen, 31, and Brandon Barnes, 25, met at Rucker's parents' Dolton home to plan the robbery, according to an FBI affidavit. They settled on a TCF Bank branch at 493 Torrence Ave.

Two of the men, wearing black masks, walked inside the bank about 10:40 a.m. One pointed a small handgun at a teller, and another jumped over the counter, officials said. They escaped with more than $9,000 -- and, unknown to them, two tracking devices -- in a blue nylon bag.

The three returned to Rucker's parents' home in the 14600 block of Wabash Avenue in two cars, officials said.

Griffen apparently accidentally locked the keys in his car and was captured less than 10 minutes after the robbery when police saw him walking quickly away. While a police officer ran his name, Griffen rolled down a squad car window, opened the door and "jumped out," before quickly being recaptured, the affidavit says.

About an hour after the robbery, authorities were allowed to enter the home where the GPS devices were located. In the basement, police found Barnes, a small handgun in a clothing bin and, behind a freezer, a blue nylon bag with $8,789, two tracking devices and eight bait bills.

The last bit of missing cash -- $250 -- was found in one of Barnes' socks.

By the time Tucker returned in his father's sedan, police had already searched the home, and Tucker was ready to tell federal agents "everything," according to the affidavit.

While GPS devices are proving valuable, most bank robberies are still solved with the help of security-camera footage, exploding dye packs and old-fashioned fingerprints.

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