Crime

Alleged Wig-Wearing Bank Robber Gets Stuck in Air Ducts With $100K

(The Blaze/AP) — A wig-wearing man allegedly broke into a Chicago bank vault Saturday afternoon and stole $100,000, but he got stuck in the air vents before he could make his escape.

Embarrassingly, the man actually had to be rescued by authorities, who were forced to cut him out of the ducts because of his extremely tight position.

NBC Chicago introduces the story:

Charles Estell, 38, had seemingly been trapped for most of the ten hour manhunt that affected the entire surrounding neighborhood.

“I don’t want to kill or hurt you,” Estell reportedly told the bank employees while pointing a gun at them during the robbery.  “I just want the money.”

He then allegedly stuffed $100,000 in a backpack and fled.  Employees whose hands had been tied behind their backs told authorities he appeared to have escaped through the ceiling.

Police spent hours searching the area, and located Estell around 1 a.m. Sunday.  Before they could cut him loose from the air duct, reports say, they had to remove his wig of long, beaded dreadlocks.

Estell was charged Sunday with one felony count of bank robbery and could face up to 20 years in prison. He has not entered a plea, and is due back in court Tuesday. It wasn’t immediately clear if he had a lawyer. A phone message left Sunday at a number listed as his wasn’t immediately returned.

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