“I have a gun. Give me all your money or die. Any funny stuff and I’ll get you before they get me. Put money in black zipper bag,” instructed the note.
The woman did not display an actual gun but held her hand in her long dark blue coat with gold buttons as if she had a gun. Ava put about $33,000 (equal to about $251,000 in 2024) into the bag and after the robber walked out, she activated the bank alarm and alerted other employees.
Butler was later arrested by FBI agents responding to an anonymous tip and charged with being an accessory to the robbery. They caught the robber, Vickey Stevens, in North Carolina on May 4, 1972. A suspected accomplice, Jerry Gude, was also being sought. In his house, federal agents found more than $30,000 from the robbery.
By the end of 1974, Marina Bank would outgrow Marina City and move its main banking facilities to the Old Republic Building on North Michigan Avenue. Marina City would be a full-service but remote location.
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(Left) Marina City branch of JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2009. The Chase branch was at Marina City for more than eight years, closing on August 9, 2014. On December 5, 2008, it was robbed by Lance Dennie, nicknamed the “Red Line Robber” by the FBI. Dennie robbed nine banks – and the Marina City bank twice, coming back on March 10, 2009. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison. |
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