Former sheriff's deputy, son, accused in DuPage bank robberies
A disgraced former DuPage County deputy sheriff has returned to Illinois in shackles on a federal complaint alleging he and the son who bears his name were behind two suburban bank heists.
Louis Howard Early is being held without bond while awaiting formal indictment. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing May 1 during his first federal court appearance.
The 51-year-old New York man and his son, Louis S. Early, 26, of Lisle, are accused of making off with about $70,000 after sticking up two banks in March in Naperville and Wheaton.
In both heists, the elder Early donned a baseball cap and sunglasses and warned tellers not to try anything "funny," the federal complaint states. His son was on duty as an assistant branch manager during the second stickup, March 18, at TCF Bank in Wheaton's Danada Square shopping center.
This isn't Louis H. Early's first brush with the law in DuPage County.
The former deputy sheriff was indicted Aug. 5, 1984, on official misconduct and theft charges alleging he stole $5,000 in inmate bail money while working in the DuPage County jail under former Sheriff Richard Doria.
Early resigned that Sept. 10, days after being suspended, during an internal investigation led by then-Sgt. John Zaruba, who later was elected sheriff after Doria retired. At the time, Early was in the midst of a divorce.
"I personally think that it was not done vindictively. It was done in need," Zaruba is quoted in old court records while trying to get Early to confess. "I think it was done because you are living far over your means."
Early was convicted in 1986 and sentenced to serve 191 days in jail, two years' probation and ordered to pay restitution. His probation was revoked in 1987 when Early ran into more trouble in Cook County after being accused of stealing cars.
In the latest allegation, tellers reported a man threatened them with a gun at 4:05 p.m. March 9 at Fifth Third Bank, 1311 Ridgeland Ave., Naperville, before fleeing with $9,322.
Nine days later, a suspect matching the same description struck the Danada TCF branch bank, where Early Jr. was working. The assistant manager later told authorities he did not recognize the robber, who ordered the two bank employees to empty the vault, except for the dye packs and bait bills, and then instructed them to get down on the floor and count to 200. He then fled.
FBI officials said nearly $61,000 was stolen.
Both bank robberies remained unsolved until March 21, when the elder Early was arrested in DeWitt, New York, on unrelated charges after a female associate accused him of vandalizing her car and brandishing a gun during a dispute.
Lt. Joseph J. Weeks of the Cayuga County sheriff's office in New York said they contacted the FBI after spotting suspicious items in a motel room Early had rented.
"We saw a large amount of cash in an open black leather briefcase," Weeks said. "Some of it was stacked in bricks of plastic shrink wrap similar to vault money. It looked very suspicious, like it could be proceeds of a bank robbery, so we called the FBI and got a search warrant."
Weeks said they recovered a loaded .32-caliber revolver, $52,342 cash, federal reserve bank documents and a police scanner.
In the federal complaint, FBI agents said Louis H. Early confessed to both bank heists and implicated his son. They said the father told them his son drove a red 2002 Toyota as the getaway car in the first heist, and that they both stayed the next night in a Naperville hotel room.
In the second heist, in Wheaton, Louis H. Early said his son helped plan the inside job and provided him with a rented 2009 Chevy Malibu used to flee. Authorities later verified the hotel room and car were obtained in the younger man's name, the federal complaint said.
The Early men aren't the area's first father-and-son team accused of banking heists.
In fact, the most infamous case involved a Northwest suburban duo known as the "flesh-colored mask bandits" who hit nearly 20 banks during a 15-month, seven-state robbing spree that ended in spring 1993.
Robert T. Hunter Sr. and his son, Robert T. Jr., formerly of Rolling Meadows, were put out of business April 22, 1993, after a high-speed chase and shoot out with police in Indiana. Both received lengthy prison terms.
Unlike Early, though, the elder Hunter attempted to take the blame to protect his son.
"While it is unusual to have a father-son team rob a bank, it certainly isn't the first time it's happened," said Ross Rice, an FBI spokesman. "In fact, when it comes to bank robberies, there isn't much we haven't seen."
Louis S. Early is free on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond.
Both men's attorneys, Helen Kim and Brendan Shiller, did not return Daily Herald phone calls seeking comment. The father and son face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.