Illinois bank standoff ends peacefully

[June 22, 2007]  ARCOLA -- A man wanted in the shooting of a sheriff's deputy who later took five people hostage in a bank surrendered peacefully Thursday after releasing his hostages unharmed, authorities said.

The standoff at the First Mid-Illinois Bank and Trust followed a mid-morning traffic stop, police said. The man and an accomplice sped off as a state trooper's drug-sniffing dog was searching their car, State Police Sgt. Bill Emery said.

The two men robbed a house a few miles from where they were stopped and took a van, leaving their car behind, Emery said.

Soon after, Chief Deputy Tommy Martin pulled the van over, and was shot in the face and torso as he approached the vehicle, Emery said.

Martin was able to radio for help and say what direction the van headed. Authorities pursued the van in a chase that reached speeds over 100 mph as the suspects fired on them, he said.

The driver lost control of the vehicle as it careered over railroad tracks, and the suspects abandoned it, Emery said. One fled into the nearby bank. The other suspect, a 23-year-old man, was taken into custody, but had not been charged as of late Thursday.

Authorities declined to identify the bank hostages. Reporters were kept far from the scene.

Bill Pullen, 69, told Chicago's WLS-TV that he and his grandson Brad Pullen, the bank's 27-year-old manager, were among those held hostage. He said their alleged captor "was only threatening" initially.

"His main thing was that nobody is gonna get hurt, which you have a tendency not to believe in that situation," he said.

Authorities didn't know if it was the driver or the passenger who shot Martin. They did not release details of the hostages' release. Both men were being held at Douglas County Jail.

Douglas County Sheriff Charlie McGrew said Martin, a 59-year-old father of two, had one of two planned surgeries and that it went "very well." He was listed in critical condition and was expected to remain overnight at the Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, nursing supervisor Sue Gelvin said.

Arcola, about 150 miles south of Chicago, is home to an Old Order Amish settlement. The rural area features Amish homes, business and schools, and horse-drawn buggies and tractors are a frequent sight.

[Associated Press]