CHICAGO — A man convicted of taking $146,000 during a bank robbery in 2018 is in hot water again. Federal prosecutors say he robbed another Chicago bank over the weekend and, in a serious targeting error, also tried to rob a “non-traditional” bank that does not keep any cash on property.
Gregory Ritter received a five-year prison sentence for the 2018 crime and was ordered to pay $84,200 in restitution.
On Saturday morning, Ritter tried to rob the Fifth Third Bank in the 8000 block of Golf Road in Niles, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent.
“I have a gun,” Ritter allegedly announced as he announced the robbery. But he left after a bank employee informed him that their location “is not a traditional bank branch” as it does not have tellers or money.
Investigators had already linked Ritter to the robbery attempt through the getaway car’s license plate when, a few hours later, he walked into the Fifth Third Bank at 2710 North Narragansett, the affidavit said.
Ritter allegedly went into a banker’s office, raised his shirt to reveal a gun in his waistband, and instructed all of the tellers to step away from the counter.
“Give me the 100s,” he ordered, according to the FBI agent. He allegedly collected $21,340, directed the employees to go into the vault, and then fled in the same Dodge Journey that he used in the Niles robbery attempt.
Within an hour, cops found Ritter’s minivan at a repair shop in Glenview, the agent wrote. An employee told investigators that Ritter had dropped off the minivan and driven away in a 2007 Mercedes that he had left at the shop previously for repairs. According to the affidavit, Ritter paid for the repairs in cash before leaving.
The police glanced inside the minivan and saw a surgical mask and torn paper wrappers that banks use to bind stacks of currency.
It took less than an hour for cops to find Ritter in the Mercedes, still wearing the same camouflage shirt, rolled-up jeans, and shoes as the bank robber, the agent said.
Ritter “admitted to the morning attempted robbery, the afternoon robbery, and a third bank robbery he had committed on February 5, 2025,” the agent wrote. He allegedly told them where to find the pellet gun he used and said he left the money in the minivan.
According to the FBI agent, investigators found $13,465 in the minivan and another $2,462 in his Mercedes.
Back in 2018, Ritter scored a huge haul when he targeted a bank in Rolling Meadows. Federal officials said he walked into the branch with a small suitcase containing a roll of duct tape and a BB gun.
“I’m gonna rob the bank,” he allegedly announced to the employees. “I have a gun, put your hands on the desk or I’m gonna start shooting.”
“Let’s go to the vault!” Ritter invited.
After stuffing $146,000 into the suitcase, he placed duct tape on the employees’ arms and mouths and taped them to office chairs, officials said.
According to the FBI, he quickly went to work spending the money. Within days, he bought a BMW, a Cadillac, a Lincoln Navigator, and an RV. He also secured about $56,000 into an Elk Grove Village storage facility. Finally, the feds say, he took his elderly mother on a road trip to New York City in his new Cadillac. Agents arrested him in the Big Apple, where he had $4,000 in his hotel room safe.
The government recovered about $60,000 of the bank’s proceeds, presumably by selling the things Ritter bought with the cash, leaving him with an $84,200 debt to repay. Federal court records show he was doing that in monthly $25 installments as recently as 2023.
