Federal prosecutors say a Chicago man accused of robbing a US Bank branch on the South Side practically left investigators his calling card: a robbery note scrawled on an envelope bearing his home address.
According to a federal complaint, 34-year-old Janares Harrison walked into the US Bank branch at 815 West 63rd Street on the morning of July 8 and passed the branch manager a brown envelope. Scrawled across the back: “Fill the envelop. I’m robbing you.”
The bank manager told investigators the robber demanded money and pressed her about “big bills” before leaving with $608. She said he returned briefly to ask about his envelope, which she pretended to misplace.
What made the note stand out to detectives was the plastic window on the front of the envelope. Behind it, agents said, was a piece of mail addressed to a man who used to live at Harrison’s home in the 6500 block of South Sangamon Street.
FBI agents later compared bank surveillance images to Harrison’s publicly available Facebook photos and noted similarities in build, beard, and a distinctive gold-colored watch worn by the bank robber.
It turns out the envelope was addressed to the late husband of Harrison’s mom, who used to live at the Sangamon home, according to the complaint.
Harrison was arrested on August 12 on an unrelated warrant after agents watched him leave the Sangamon Street property. Officials said he admitted that he sometimes stayed there and acknowledged owning the gold watch seen in surveillance images, but denied committing the robbery.
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