BLOOMINGTON – Police in Bloomington say they have contacted authorities in Louisiana about their search for a college student whose disappearance has similarities to that of an Indiana University student who has been missingA man has been arrested in connection with bank robberies in northwest Indiana, northwest Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin, the Indianapolis Division of the FBI announced Monday.
Beaver Bernard Russell, 47, of Benton Harbor, Mich., was also responsible for five purse snatchings and one armed robbery in northwest Indiana, the FBI said in a statement.
It said the crime spree began in the middle of December.
It said Russell robbed banks in Toledo, South Bend, Munster, Lansing, Ill., Walton, Ky., Florence, Ky., and Pleasant Prairie, Wis. The FBI also said he grabbed purses in Gary, Hammond, Hobart and Michigan City, and that some of the victims were injured.
The FBI said Russell was caught Thursday after the Huntington Bank in Walton, Ky., was robbed and Russell's car flipped during a 130 mph chase.
Federal charges against Russell are being pursued through the U.S. Attorney's office in northern Indiana.
