Texts to cop lead FBI to Grayslake man suspected in pair of bank heists
Less than an hour after robbing a Lake Forest bank earlier this year, Rajko Bozic texted a police officer acquaintance who'd responded to the heist, federal authorities say.
"Life is good just taking it day by day," Bozic wrote the officer, according to a court filing. "let's catch up soon grab a beer."
More than nine months later, those texts are the among the evidence federal authorities say they used to link Bozic to the Jan. 6 robbery, and another Dec. 29, 2017, in Deerfield.
The 35-year-old Grayslake man appeared in court last week on a bank robbery charge stemming from the Lake Forest stickup, the FBI announced Wednesday. Bozic, who was later released on bond, has not been charged in the Deerfield robbery.
According to court documents, a man federal authorities say is Bozic walked into the Fifth Third Bank at 990 S. Waukegan Road in Lake Forest about 12:02 p.m. Jan. 6, approached a teller and quietly said "I have a gun, I will shoot you, give me your money from your top and lower drawer. Now! I have a gun, I will use it. Give me the money now."
The teller handed over $4,000 cash and the robber left the bank, an FBI affidavit states.
Less than an hour later, authorities say, Bozic sent a text message to a Lake Forest police officer he knew through his former business in Lake Bluff.
"Just saw you bud on Waukegan road how you been," the first of several texts reads, according to court papers.
FBI officials say they later used cellular tower data from Bozic's phone to determine he was near the Lake Forest bank just minutes before the holdup. About an hour later, Bozic made a $2,000 cash deposit at a bank in Lake Bluff, the FBI said.
According to the FBI, both the Lake Forest bank teller and a woman who previously dated Bozic identified him as the robber through surveillance photos. His former wife and the woman he dated also identified him in surveillance photos showing a man casing the Deerfield Bank & Trust about two weeks before it was robbed, court documents state.
Bozic is scheduled to return to court Thursday for a pretrial status hearing.