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Illinois Valley

Man arrested in Granville bank robbery; $6,000 stolen with kitchen knife

David Ragazincky, 58, picked up hours after holdup; faces up to 20 years in prison

David L. Ragazincky

A partially masked robber entered on Monday, wielding a silver kitchen knife. He left Granville National Bank with about $6,000. One of the tellers told the FBI the suspect “smelled like he had been drinking.”

That’s according to a sworn statement filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.

According to the new filing, the police and federal agents who swarmed Granville caught a break: a bystander had seen David L. Ragazincky walking toward his Granville apartment shortly after the holdup.

Police ran Ragazincky, according to the filing, and saw his file photo matched the partial description provided by bank tellers and what police saw on surveillance footage.

Police then spotted Ragazincky driving a Dodge Ram outside of Granville, court records show. He was then stopped and taken into custody on suspicion of bank robbery.

“Ragazincky appeared to be intoxicated at the time of his arrest,” an FBI agent disclosed in a sworn statement. Less than two hours had passed since the holdup.

Ragazincky, 58, was scheduled to appear late Wednesday in federal court in Peoria. He will be admonished then about penalties if he’s convicted of bank robbery, but a review of the federal statute suggests Ragazincky faces up to 20 years in prison.

In preparation for Ragazincky’s first hearing, an FBI agent filed an eight-page affidavit in federal court. The affidavit spelled out the case so far against Ragazincky.

Investigators interviewed the manager of Ragazincky’s apartment complex, according to the filing, and learned Ragazincky owed approximately $679 in rent. A search warrant of his apartment turned up bundles of U.S. currency in Ragazincky’s kitchen pantry, in a pair of pillowcases tucked behind his living room TV, and inside a mason jar in his bedroom, court records show.

“In addition, a kitchen knife block set was located in the kitchen of the unit,” the agent wrote. “The knives in the set had wooden handles and silver blades and appeared to match the description of the knife brandished at the bank and located in the alley behind the Granville Village Hall. Agents observed that the set was missing one knife.”

A search of the Dodge Ram yielded a black Reebok coat. According to the affidavit, within the pocket of the coat was a handwritten demand note stating, “Give me all your money, you make what, minimum wage. Give it to me.”

Tom Collins

Tom Collins

Tom Collins covers criminal justice in La Salle County.