Federal and state law enforcement officials were building a case last week against a man suspected of being the "Credit Union Bandit," an armed robber who terrorized credit union and bank workers in eight states during an 18-month period.
The suspect, identified as 57-year-old Richard Matzke of Urbandale, Iowa, was being held in the Polk County Jail here last week after being charged with a single heist, the May 18, 2001 hold-up at Ralston Purina ECU in nearby Davenport, Iowa. But evidence was mounting last week connecting Matzke, convicted of a 1993 armed bank robbery in Minneapolis, to 25 robberies or attempted robberies, including as many as 20 at credit unions, earning him the nickname "the Credit Union Bandit."
Building A Case
FBI spokesperson Larry Holmquist said the single charge will enable authorities to hold Matzke while they try to build a case for some of the other robberies. "We can't link the guy, technically, with any of the others," he said, acknowledging he is a suspect in numerous robberies throughout the Midwest.
In fact, surveillance videos taken during numerous credit unions robberies over the past 18 months show an assailant that fits Matzke's description, sometimes wearing glasses or a baseball cap.
Authorities arrested Matzke in the early morning hours March 30 after he returned home from a trip to Omaha, where he is thought to have robbed another credit union. While he was away his fianc?e, Kim Ford, notified police of Matzke's resemblance to a surveillance photo published in the local newspaper. Afterwards, Ford and her sister searched the trunk of Matzke's car and found glasses, a baseball cap and a handgun believed to have been used in some of the hold-ups, according to court records. Police then searched their apartment and found "bait money" among the cash stolen from a Norfolk, Neb., credit union.
Urbandale, Iowa, police, who participated in Matzke's arrest, have charged him with harassment after he allegedly threatened to kill Ford when he discovered she was cooperating with police.
Credit union officials throughout the Midwest were relieved, but guarded at the arrest. "I'm so excited that they think they have him," said Eleanor Gefroh, president of Watertown Employees FCU, Watertown, S.D., which the robber allegedly cased before abandoning an attempted robbery.
CU Managers Skeptical
"We still don't know if he's the guy," said Connie Adkison, president of Moline Municipal Employees CU, Moline, Ill., which the bandit is alleged to have robbed. Said Janice Moxon, president of SDCU FCU, Brookings, S.D., which allegedly was robbed by the bandit, "We still don't know if this guy is the one."
The FBI's Holmquist said they don't know why the bandit favored credit unions, who often hit more than one on the same day.
On April 25, 2001, a man believed to be the bandit attempted to rob three different credit unions along Interstate 29 in the Dakotas. He first attempted to rob Dakota Telco FCU in Fargo, N.D., but failed when he was told the credit union carried no cash.
"He never got any money," said Bonnie Sorby, president of the small credit union. "I asked for his account number and he couldn't give me one. So I asked for his name and he gave me a fictitious name. Then he pulled out a note asking for cash and I told him I don't have any cash."
The would-be robber then told her to sit "and out the door he went," she said.
A short while later down the Interstate a man of the same description was spotted in Watertown Employees FCU, which is located inside the city hall. "A teller noticed him up at the counter," said Gefroh. "We know pretty much all of our membership."
But the suspect soon left when a uniformed police officer who is a member entered to make a transaction, she said. "He fit the description of the Credit Union Bandit. He was wearing a baseball cap...we don't know 100% that it was him, but I have a feeling it was."
The bandit's persistence paid off, though, a short while later that same day, when further down the Interstate he robbed SDCU FCU in Brookings, S.D.
Robber: 'I'm Not Kidding'
In the robbery at First Federal Community FCU in Cedar Rapids, the credit union's first ever, a robber fitting Matzke's description gave the teller a note demanding she give him "20's, 50's and 100's, and no one gets hurt," according to Atkison. When the teller looked up in bewilderment the robber lifted his jacket to show a handgun stuffed in his pants. "Then he said to her, 'I'm not kidding,'"
The teller gave the robber cash, under $10,000, which included so-called bait money with marked serial numbers to assist authorities in establishing the origin of stolen cash. "She was petrified. She did exactly what she was supposed to do and gave him the money," said Adkison.
Among the credit unions allegedly robbed or targeted for robberies are Ralston Purina Employees FCU, Davenport, Iowa; Sioux Valley CU, Sioux City, S.D.; Mizzou CU, Columbia, Mo.; First Federal Community FCU, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Dakota Telco CU, Fargo, N.D.; Watertown Employees FCU, Watertown, S.D.; Albert Lea United Employees CU, Albert Lea, Minn., and Moline Municipal CU, Moline, Ill.
