Woman Gets 18 Months for Cary Bank Robbery

A Crystal Lake woman was sentenced to 18 months in a federal prison May 18 for robbing a Chase Bank in Cary last year of $5,876. 

Silk Pauline Lumpkins, 36, plead guilty to bank robbery before U.S. District Judge Philip G. Reinhard in the Rockford federal court. Reinhard also ordered a three-year supervision after her release. For the first six months of supervision, Lumpkins will be confined to her home and wear an electronic monitoring device. She is ordered to pay full restitution to Chase Bank.

According to a Department of Justice release, Lumpkins pled guilty Feb. 16 of robbing the Chase Bank, 300 Northwest Highway, Cary, on May 26, 2010. 

Lumpkins admitted that at about 2:20 p.m., she entered the bank wearing a disguise of a long blonde wig, heavy make-up on her face and hands, a long-sleeved shirt and a baseball cap. She wrote a note at the self-service desk and handed it to a teller at the counter. According to the release, the note said something to the effect of: “If you don’t want to die today, give me all your money. You have 30 seconds to do this.” The teller removed $5,876 from her drawer and handed the money to Lumpkins, who put it into a blue Chase deposit bag she brought with her and walked out of the bank. 

Lumpkins was apprehended by Fox River Grove Police June 2, 2010, after two employees at the Chase branch at Fox River Grove called about a suspicious person pacing outside the entrance, said Fox River Grove Police Chief Ronald Lukasik. 

The woman described strongly resembled the picture of the person who had robbed the Cary branch the preceding week. She was wearing thick, white face paint, long, blonde hair and similar clothing to the suspect. 

When officers arrived at the bank another witness pointed them in the direction the woman had walked toward. While walking through a nearby apartment complex parking lot, they encountered Lumpkins in a vehicle, still wearing the heavy makeup and clothing witnesses describe. A blonde wig, black gloves, a black baseball hat and a blue Chase deposit bag were uncovered in the vehicle by police. 

Lukasik said when asked why she was in Fox River Grove, Lumpkins said that she had read in a newspaper about the Cary bank robbery and thought she’d see if anyone would notice her if she dressed like the robber. Once at the police station she gave her name as Pauline Wilson. 

“When people go and do these sorts of things, they are probably extremely nervous and sometimes say things that don’t make sense,” Lukasik said. 

Lumpkins was subsequently transported to Cary Police Department where she was interviewed by detectives and FBI agents. At that time she confessed to robbing the bank and was identified through Secretary of State records, paperwork found in her vehicle and fingerprint records.

Public documents at the McHenry County Courthouse website show a series of traffic violations spanning five years. 

Lukasik said Lumpkins told police she robbed the bank to buy food, clothing, bicycles, shoes and other items for her children at area stores. A search of her home by police uncovered a receipt for $299.50 at a local store on  May 28, 2010, paid for with $300 cash. Lukasik said the rest of the money was never found or accounted for. 

No weapons were used in the robbery, Lukasik said. 

New Cary Grove Police Chief,  Steven Casstevens,  declined to comment as he didn't have the specifics of the case. 

FBI SChicago Division Spokesman, Ross Rice, did not know if the sentence was determined by the court or was an agreed-upon sentence based on her plea, although the charge remained the same. He didn’t know if Lumpkins had been out on bail, but thought most likely she had been. 

“She will be turned over to the Bureau of Prisons and they will do a designation of an institution,” of where she will serve her time, he said.

Other details surrounding the charges and other court events can only by answered by the Department of Justice. A call to Assistant United States Attorney Scott Verseman, who prosecuted the case, was not immediately returned.