Marina City Bank and resident robbed

When Marina City Bank was robbed on March 18, 1983, most of the money taken had just been withdrawn by a Marina City resident.

It happened on a Friday morning. A man walked into the bank, asked the guard for directions to the men’s room, and was directed to the nearby bowling alley. He came back, angrily told the guard, “There’s no washroom there,” and pulled out a gun.

After disarming the guard, the man confronted a woman who had just withdrawn $2,100 and told her to give him the money. He then ordered a teller to hand over money from a cash drawer, which netted him another $800.

When asked by the Chicago Tribune if the money stolen from the customer would be considered her loss or the bank’s, bank president John Timmer said, “We don’t let any of our customers lose money.”

(Left) John F. Timmer, Marina Bank president, 1982-87. Timmer is now Executive Vice President of Relationship Banking at Cole Taylor Bank. In 1987, NBD Bancorp purchased the holding company for Marina Bank, USAmeribancs.

Less than a month later, on April 7, 1983, there was an attempted holdup at Marina City Bank and this time a guard was shot and wounded.

It started when two gunmen came across building security guard Larry Brown and his half-brother, Wilkes Kirkland, about 100 feet from the entrance to the bank. They demanded Brown’s gun but he was unarmed. The robbers then led the men at gunpoint into the bank.

When bank security guard Jesse Willis saw this, he pulled his gun but was shot in the abdomen before he could fire. After falling to the floor wounded, he may have gotten off some shots, as did at least one of the would-be robbers. With about 50 customers in the bank at the time, witnesses say seven shots were fired.

The gunmen got away but no money was taken. After surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Willis was in good condition.

By this time, the bank was a branch of Marina Bank, located on North Michigan Avenue in the Old Republic Building.