The Bank Robber on the Bicycle

Tom Justice chased Olympic gold on his bike. Then he used it as a getaway vehicle

- Steven Leckart

THE MAN IN the baseball cap and sunglasses waited for the teller to notice him. The morning of 26 May 2000, was quiet inside the LaSalle Bank in Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

“May I help you?” said the young woman behind the counter. The man reached to the back of his khakis as if to fish out a wallet. Instead, he presented her with an index card. The teller’s smile wilted as she stared at the words: “THIS IS A ROBBERY. PUT ALL OF YOUR MONEY IN THE BAG.”

The robber, a slender man wearing a blue oxford shirt, returned the card to his pocket. “Nice and easy,” he said coolly, handing over a plastic shopping bag. While the teller anxiously transferred bundles of cash, the man gently pressed his palms together as if he were about to whisper “Namaste”.

“Thank you,” he said, and walked out the front door.

Less than two minutes later, he emerged from an underground parking lot carrying a bicycle on one shoulder and a messenger bag over the other and wearing a red, white and blue spandex bodysuit. He climbed on to the bike and began to ride leisurely.

He cruised up to a trash can. After fishing two crisp $20 bills out of the plastic bag, he held it upside down over the can. Several bundles of cash—$4,009 in all (around ₹1,74,390 at the time)—tumbled into the trash. The man returned the empty sack to his messenger bag and pedaled away.

SEATED IN THE BLEACHERS,13-year old Tom Justice watched in awe as the cyclists careened around the outdoor track of the Ed Rudolph Velodrome, outside Chicago. Every time the pack whirled by, it cut the air, unleashing a concentrated whoosh.