Crime & Safety

Daughter's Bank Heist Prank Text Prompts Mom to Call Cops

A Tinley Park woman was cited after her joking text was taken seriously, leading to a false 911 call about a robbery at an Orland Park bank Tuesday and a large police response.

A 19-year-old Tinley Park woman was cited for disorderly conduct, after she jokingly told her mother via text message that two escaped bank robbers were holding up an Orland Park bank Tuesday, leading to a 911 call and a large response from local law enforcement.

While local police and federal agents were searching for two convicted bank robbers who escaped a Chicago prison complex Tuesday morning and were later spotted in Tinley Park, the 19-year-old headed to Marquette Bank at 7560 W. 159th St. around noon, according to Orland Park Police Commander John Keating.

The woman’s mother texted her to be careful because of the convicts on the loose, and she replied that the men were at the bank, with guns, Keating said. The mother then called 911 at 12:14 p.m. and reported the nonexistent robbery, leading to a major response from Orland Park officers.

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“The mother didn’t realize she was making light of the situation,” Keating said. “It was poor judgment for her daughter to make the joke. We deployed resources in accordance with our procedures for an armed robbery.”

Several Orland Park officers and detectives, clad in bulletproof vests, gathered around the bank’s perimeter, according to witnesses passing by the bank.

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“We had a lot of resources on the scene real quick,” Keating said.

Orland Park police did not release the woman’s name because no criminal charges were filed, according to Orland Park Police Commander John Keating.

“We have to weigh the seriousness and criminal intent behind something like this,” Keating said, in regard to the citation. “This definitely would’ve been a different story if she would’ve called us directly and made this claim herself.”

Orland Park police was in touch with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tinley Park Police Department, while they searched for the escaped convicts, Keating said.

“We take these calls very seriously,” Keating said. “We felt in this case that the manner in which this happened, and circumstances surrounding the call, that the municipal violation was appropriate.”

 

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