Forget exploding dye packs. Three thieves who made off with about $9,000 in cash from an Illinois bank were thwarted by a GPS device inserted in the cash that led authorities straight to their door, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Minutes after an armed bank heist in Calumet City last week, the three suspects met up at the home of one of their parents in neighboring Dolton. They barely were out of their vehicles when they heard sirens — getting louder and louder.
How had the cops tracked them down so quickly? The masks, getaway vehicles and meet-up location had all been mapped out earlier, but a relatively new feature in bank security — credit-card-size GPS devices hidden in stolen cash — led police almost instantly to the suspects, according to an FBI affidavit.
FBI and banking officials said they believed it was the first time the technology — similar to what is increasingly used in cell phones and other devices — had been deployed to solve a bank robbery in the Chicago region.