Huntley bank robber suspect held without bond

A Huntley man was being held without bond Monday in connection with a weekend bank robbery in his hometown that led police on an 18-minute high-speed chase that ended in Elgin, officials said.

Christopher J. Olsen, 29, of the 18N900 block of Barko Parkway, was charged Monday morning in federal court with one count of bank robbery, said Ross Rice, an FBI spokesman.

Olsen appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan, who ordered he remain in custody without bond, Rice said.

Authorities say that at 11 a.m. Saturday, Olsen walked into the Harris Bank branch on 12920 Route 47 wearing a black ski mask and showing a shotgun, demanded money, made off with $6,492 cash and fled in a white 1992 Ford Tempo. According to the FBI affidavit, the shotgun, which Olsen obtained from a close family member a few days before the robbery, was unloaded.

The affidavit also says Olsen poked the teller's eyeglasses with his shotgun during the robbery.

A description of Olsen and his vehicle were forwarded to Huntley officers who spotted him driving the Tempo near Route 47 and Powers Road, police said. Olsen sped away when officers tried to make a traffic stop, police said, starting a chase that reached speeds of 100 mph and traveled from Powers Road to Big Timber Road in Elgin.

When Olsen approached Elm and Walnut streets, Elgin officials said, he intentionally hit a police car head-on, spinning the vehicle around and sending it into another police car. No one was hurt.

Police said Olsen continued west on Walnut and then east on South Street, where he jumped the curb and flattened his tires before the vehicle came to rest at the bottom of a grassy hill. Olsen got out of the car and tried to run away, but was captured and taken into custody, police said.

A police search of his car turned up several thousand dollars in cash, a dark glove, a long gun case and a dark knit cap with three holes cut out, police said.

Olsen is due in federal court Dec. 3.

If found guilty of the offense, Olsen could spend a maximum of 20 years behind bars, Rice said.