The LaPorte City Police Department issued a press release on March 4, 2010, to announce the apprehension of the man who robbed National City Bank, 611 Pine Lake Ave., on July 25, 2009.
Arrested was Joseph E. Campbell of Elkhart, IN.
The LaPorte robbery had been assigned to LaPorte Detective James Ferguson, who was working with numerous police agencies in Indiana and Michigan that had similar robberies with descriptions that matched. Each agency involved was unable to identify the suspect, though, according to the press release.
Then on March 3, 2010, as Ferguson was forming a task force that included detectives from Michigan and Indiana, Centier Bank in Valparaiso was robbed by the same suspect. Thanks to an alert citizen, Campbell was apprehended.
Campbell was interviewed and admitted to several bank robberies in Michigan and Indiana, including his first — the National City robbery in LaPorte.
The case has been turned over to the FBI, which will handle all charges on the federal level.
