Red Line Robber pleads guilty

Sentencing scheduled for May 19

5-Feb-10 – Lance Dennie, accused of being the “Red Line Robber” but who maintained his innocence for more than four months, changed his plea to guilty on Tuesday. (Left) Surveillance photo released in March 2009 of suspected Red Line Robber.

The 44-year-old south side man was charged with seven counts of bank robbery between March and August of last year, including two robberies of the Chase branch at Marina City and two other robberies a few blocks away. The FBI nicknamed him the “Red Line Robber” because the robberies were near stops on the CTA Red Line. At the time, Dennie lived just south of the Red Line station at 95th Street.

During the March 13, 2009, robbery of the Chase branch at 850 South Wabash Avenue, Dennie forced a teller at gunpoint to exit the bank with him, apparently to make sure there were no exploding dye packs. He let the teller go shortly after leaving the bank but got away with $4,000.

He got $6,938 during his first robbery of the Chase branch at Marina City on December 5, 2008. He walked into the bank, up to a teller and asked, “Is this where you make deposits and withdrawals?”

When told that it was, Dennie brushed his jacket aside to reveal a handgun and demanded money. “It’s not your money,” he told the teller, “it’s secure money. Just give it to me.”

He then threatened, “Don’t give me no dye pack. Don’t play with me. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill everyone. I know your face.”

The teller put the money into a purple backpack that Dennie had provided.

Dennie came back to the same branch on March 10, 2009. While he waited in line, an assistant manager came up to Dennie and asked, “Can I help you?”

When Dennie said he wanted to open an account, he was asked to wait in a nearby cubicle for another bank employee. As the second employee explained the process of opening an account, Dennie stood up, revealed a handgun in his waistband, and told the employee, “You know who I am and you know what I am here for.”

The two went to a teller window, where Dennie placed a bag on the counter and told the teller to put money in it. Dennie then left the bank with approximately $4,388.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 19. The mandatory minimum sentence is ten years. He could get up to 60 years.

 Read the plea agreement