Convicted bank robber once dubbed ‘Stringer Bell Bandit’ accused in string of new heists in Chicago’s Loop

A convicted bank robber once dubbed the “Stringer Bell Bandit” because of his likeness to the character from the hit show “The Wire” is under arrest again for a string of similar heists in downtown Chicago over the past few months.

When FBI agents arrested Kenneth Anderson on South State Street on July 1, he had a note scrawled on a paper towel that read, “Give me all the money in drawer Now! hurry up,” according to a search warrant affidavit filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday.

The affidavit stated that Anderson, 55, is suspected in as many as nine hold-ups since May 2, most recently on June 27. He has been ordered held without bond for allegedly violating the terms of his supervised release in his previous bank robbery convictions, records show.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman, who had sentenced Anderson to nine years in prison in 2014, is scheduled to hold a hearing on the violation petition on July 26, records show.

The recent sting of robberies began on May 2 with the hold-up of a U.S. Bank Branch at 25 E. Washington St.. According to the affidavit, the robber approached a teller and handed a note reading “Give me all the money in your drawer and hurry your (expletive) up!” The robber got away with about $1,300 in cash.

A strikingly similar method was used in other bank robberies that occurred nearby in the following weeks, including at banks at 71 S. Wacker Dr., 2 N. LaSalle St., 33 N. Dearborn St., 20 N. Clark St., 29 E. Madison St., and 515 N. LaSalle St., according to the affidavit.

In each of the heists, the robbery was suspected of making his getaway via nearby CTA train stations, according to the affidavit. Surveillance footage included in the document showed a man alleged to be Anderson swiping his Ventra card at stations nearby the bank locations shortly after the robberies.

That same transit card was found on Anderson when he was arrested last week, according to the affidavit.

Anderson was previously convicted of three separate bank robberies in 2007 and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison, records show. His supervised release in that case was revoked after his was charged in 2012 with a number of other heists, earning him the “Stringer Bell Bandit” moniker.

Records show Anderson was released to a halfway house on those cases earlier this year after serving about 10 years in prison.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com