Hoodies apparently uniform of choice for Chicago bank robbery suspects

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The ABC7 I-Team has found that there are plenty of hooded bank robbery suspects out there in the Chicago area during a year that the number of bank heists here have soared.

The iconic hooded sweatshirt has become the uniform of choice for dozens of metro Chicago bank robbers this year. Monday's heist in Orland Park is just the latest, and the FBI hasn't ruled out it may be related to other hooded bandit bank robberies in the south suburbs this year. Perhaps it's just the common clothing of circumstance and concealment, or bank robbers may be imitating each other.

In the days before hoodies, bank robberies wore bandanas or Halloween masks, full face wraps and sunglasses. In 2011, a pair of Palos Heights bank robbers even dressed up as nuns. But this year, there have been dozens of bank heists pulled off by men and women wearing common hoodies.

In the northern district of Illinois, there have been 134 bank robberies so far this year. That is a dozen more bank jobs than all of last year.

Bank surveillance pictures prove that many of the armed robberies are by bandits trying to conceal themselves underneath or behind hooded sweatshirts.

In a few cases the hooded crooks have been caught, but with so many of them wearing similar sweatshirts and in their mid-20's, there are still many hooded, Chicago-area bank robbers on the lam.

Some banks have posted signs asking customers to take down their hoods and remove hats and sunglasses.In several U.S. cities and in the U.K., local police have encouraged banks to ban hoodies and baseball caps because they are the favored disguises of bank robbers.

Some law enforcement agencies report their bank robberies have declined.