I-55 Bandit Will Likely Be Charged With OC Robbery

OCEAN CITY — An Illinois man, deemed the “I-55 Bandit,” who has been identified as the suspect in a spree of at least 10 successful bank robberies in five states, has been indicted in federal court on one count in Missouri, but will likely be charged with the robbery of the Susquehanna Bank on 94th Street in the near future.
On Sept. 11, Andrew Maberry, 19, of O’Fallon, Illinois, surrendered to the FBI office in St. Louis less than 24 hours after an extensive publicity campaign was launched seeking the public’s help in capturing the notorious “I-55 Bandit.” From May to August, Maberry allegedly robbed 10 banks and attempted at least two others in five states including Illinois, Missouri, West Virginia, Tennessee and Maryland. The “I-55 Bandit” moniker stems from the fact that four of the banks he allegedly robbed in the St. Louis area occurred along the Interstate 55 corridor.
Surveillance images captured at the banks Maberry allegedly robbed during the summer-long spree, including the Susequehanna Bank on 94th Street in Ocean City on July 24, appear to indicate the suspect was a busy man and criss-crossed the eastern half of the country. For example, the “I-55 Bandit” made his first appearance in Illinois on May 6 and allegedly hit two banks in Missouri on May 15 and May 21. He made his first appearance in Maryland on June 5 with a bank robbery in Bel Air.
He then went back to Missouri and hit the Commerce Bank in Arnold on July 2 before returning to Maryland to hit another bank in Bel Air on July 19, followed the robbery in Ocean City on July 24. After successfully evading capture here, Maberry went on to hit banks in West Virginia and Tennesee, the last of which occurred on Aug. 14. Perhaps feeling the dragnet tightening, Maberry turned himself in to the FBI office in St. Louis on Sept. 11.
Maberry was indicted in U.S. District Court in Missouri last Thursday and charged with bank robbery by force or violence and robbery of a federally insured institution for the July 2 robbery of the Commerce Bank in Arnold, Missouri. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Mehan said this week after Maberry turned himself in to the FBI on September 11 and a criminal complaint was filed, a timetable began that required his formal indictment for at least one of the alleged robberies.
“He is being held on a criminal complaint for one count of felony bank robbery from one of the alleged cases in Missouri in July,” he said. “After a criminal complaint, we have 30 days to indict him, so we’re charging him at this point with just the one case in Missouri to get off that timetable and stop that clock from ticking.”
Mehan said there was an opportunity early on to charge Maberry with each of the robberies he allegedly committed, including the Ocean City robbery, but the window closed temporarily when the suspect changed attorneys.
“The first attorney for him that we dealt with proposed wrapping up all of the robberies he was connected to, including those in Maryland, under one global plea,” he said. “However, he now has a public defender and that has been taken off the table for the time being. That door is still open and we’ll see if that presents itself again going forward, but for now, he has been charged with just the one count in Missouri.”
However, it appears likely Maberry will be charged with the robbery of the Susquehanna Bank in Ocean City in the near future. Mehan confirmed Maberry is the suspect in the Ocean City robbery and the indictment in the Missouri robbery is only the beginning of what will be a lengthy process.
“He has been linked to the bank robbery in Ocean City and others in Maryland and West Virginia,” he said. “We’re still gathering all of the information for the Maryland and West Virginia cases and it appears now that he will be charged with those as well at some point.”
Around 10 a.m. on July 24, an unidentified suspect walked into the Susquehanna Bank on 94th Street and demanded money, received an undisclosed amount of cash and then casually walked back to his awaiting vehicle several blocks away. After robbing the Ocean City bank, the suspect, now believed to be Maberry, casually walked south on West Biscayne Drive to his parked vehicle.
The suspect then traveled through the Little Salisbury community to Pacific Ave., but was not seen again. The case remained under investigation and had not been solved until Maberry turned himself in to the FBI and a link was established between as many as 10 robberies in five states over a period of about two months throughout the summer.
Mehan said there were different scenarios for the eventual prosecution of Maberry for the Ocean City robbery, including an indictment in Maryland or piggybacking on the current case in U.S. District Court in Missouri.
“He was arrested in St. Louis and he has been charged here,” he said. “He could be charged here with the bank robbery in Ocean City and the others in Maryland and we could prosecute him here, or Maryland could decide to indict him.”