According to a criminal complaint filed by the United States District Court of Eastern Michigan, 55-year-old Jeffrey James Chaney is charged with four bank robberies in the Detroit area. Chaney’s LinkedIn profile lists himself as the President of Resource Lighting Group, a rep firm based in Berkley, Michigan. As of Friday, July 27, the company’s website lists Chaney as a sales person for the Michigan and Ohio territories. The company’s website says it represents dozens of lighting manufacturers in markets in Michigan and Ohio, including B-K Lighting, USAI, Osram, and LSI Industries.
The criminal complaint accuses Chaney of robbing three banks and a bakery between June 22 and July 17 of this year.
On June 22, the complaint alleges Chaney entered the Huntington Bank in Ferndale, Michigan while wearing a grey jacket, sunglasses, and a construction style mask over his mouth. The bank manager noticed him, and the suspect took off the mask and left the bank. Three days later, on June 25, a man wearing the same clothes and construction style mask robbed the same bank. The suspect showed the teller that he had a gun, and said, “Do you see this? Give me the money, no straps.” The suspect escaped with $5,797 in cash.
On July 2, the criminal complaint says the same suspect entered the Chase Bank in Lathrop Village, Michigan, again wearing the grey jacket, sunglasses, and construction style mask. This time, he was also wearing a white “Make America Great Again” hat. When he approached the teller and demanded money, the teller told him she would have to log into the bank computer to access the cash drawer. The suspect left before the teller could open the drawer.
But 20 minutes later, the same suspect entered the Huntington Bank in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. Wearing the same clothes, the suspect handed the teller a bag and said, “Put the money in the bag. Don’t put a dye pack in or I’ll shoot.” The suspect got away with $5,993. Video surveillance captured a picture of the suspect wearing the clothes in the description and getting into a black SUV with a missing cap on the rear left wheel.
On July 13, the suspect went to the Huntington Bank in Birmingham, Michigan. A manager recognized the description, and warned employees of a potential robbery. The suspect left without attempting a robbery, driving off in a small black compact car.
Just 20 minutes after that attempt, the suspect robbed the Dearborn Federal Credit Union in Birmingham, Michigan, again wearing the grey jacket and construction style mask, only this time the robber had on a dark Detroit Red Wings Hat. He told the teller “Put the money in the bag. No dye packs or anything else.” The robber got away with $2,642, and was seen running from the bank, but it is unknown which car he drove.
And on July 17, the same suspect robbed a bakery in Oak Park, Michigan. This time he wore a t-shirt and a construction style mask over his face. The bakery owner says the suspect showed a handgun and demanded money.
The FBI Task Force was able to track down the small black compact car at a rental company. It was rented by a family member of Jeffrey Chaney. From there, they were able to figure out that the SUV used in the robberies was a 2016 GMC Acadia SLE registered to the Resource Lighting Group. During the task force surveillance, members noticed the Acadia had a missing cap on the rear left wheel. Task force members also observed Cheney place a construction style mask into a public trash can near his home.
On July 20, the FBI arrested Chaney, and during questioning Chaney admitted to all of the robberies and attempted robberies, and told the task force where they could find the clothes used in the robberies, additional construction style masks, and the weapon, which turned out to be an Airsoft gun.
Chaney faces up to 30 years in prison for each robbery.