Elburn man pleads guilty to bank robbery
An Elburn man pleaded guilty earlier this month to aggravated bank robbery.
David A. Ziesel admitted to robbing the LaPorte, Ind., Savings Bank April 20. He threatened bank employees with a semiautomatic handgun, obtaining cash from one teller’s window and demanding to be shown the vault. When a bank manager, who was in the vault, opened the door to see what was going on, Ziesel then stole money out of the vault, according to the plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court, Northern Indiana District.
Ziesel was wearing a blue rain jacket and rain pants, white and red gloves, and a bandanna over his face.
Police chased him from Michigan City, Ind., to his home in Elburn. Along the way, he hit a squad car, and threw his clothes, gloves, bandanna, gun and the money out the window along an interstate highway. A crime scene investigator reported that a shoe print found on the counter that the robber jumped over matched the tread pattern on Ziesel’s shoes.
Ziesel agreed to pay restitution to the bank, but the amount has not been specified. He will also pay for the damage to the squad car. He could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 3.