FBI: 'Watermelon Pinball Bandit' robs another Hyde Park bank in Chicago

Authorities are asking for the public’s help in finding a man who robbed a Hyde Park bank Wednesday evening and who is also suspected of robbing four other banks across Chicago since Jan. 13.

The FBI is offering a reward for the capture of the man named the “Watermelon Pinball Bandit,” for the frequency with which he’s robbed banks in different parts of the city, according to a news release from the FBI.

In the latest robbery, the man walked into a branch of Fifth Third Bank, at 1420 E. 53rd St., about 4:53 p.m., according to the FBI’s BanditTrackerChicago website.

The man robbed the bank and fled. He was last seen running westbound from the bank, according to Special Agent Garrett Croon, a spokesman for the FBI in Chicago.

The man is described to be between 25 and 35 years old. He has brown eyes, a medium build, and he is between 5-foot-11 and 6-foot-1. He was wearing a black hat, gray scarf, gray jacket, black pants and tan boots.

The same man is also suspected of committing five other bank robberies across Chicago between Jan. 13 and Feb. 2, authorities said.

The latest robbery happened at a Chase bank at 1204 E. 53rd St. in the Hyde Park neighborhood around 5:40 p.m. Feb. 2.

Less than three weeks earlier, the man is believed to have robbed the same bank around 5:50 p.m. Jan. 13, according to the FBI in Chicago. 

On Jan. 19, the man managed to rob two separate banks, which are about 11 miles away from each other: one on the North Side and one on the Near West Side. He allegedly robbed a branch of MB Financial Bank at 5918 N. Broadway St. at 4:38 p.m. first, and then he allegedly robbed a branch of Chase bank at 1130 W. Taylor St. at 5:51 p.m., according to a release from the FBI.

On Jan. 25, the man robbed a Chase bank at 1959 W. Division St. on the Northwest Side at 5:47 p.m.

No injuries have been reported so far in connection with the robberies.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or call the Chicago office of the FBI at 312-421-6700.

A reward is being offered to people who help find the suspect, authorities said.