April 18, 2024
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Suspect in Livingston County bank robbery captured in Springfield

John W. Beck, a former Sheridan inmate, also wanted in connection to Paxton convenience store robbery

By Shaw Local News Network

John W. Beck (Illinois Department of Corrections)

The suspect linked to an Odell bank robbery was arrested by U.S. marshals in Springfield, the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office reported Wednesday.

John W. Beck, 54, was wanted for questioning after an April 9 robbery occurred at the Bank of Pontiac branch in Odell, a Livingston County village with a population of 1,046 located about about 25 miles southeast of Streator.

The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office said Beck is a suspect in a string of recent robberies. Beck was developed as a suspect after a man carrying a club demanded cash and cigarettes from a clerk at Village Pantry in Paxton on Sunday, according to a report in The (Champaign) News-Gazette. Paxton is a community in Ford County alongside Interstate 57 with a population of about 4,500.

No injuries were reported in either incident.

A Saturday robbery at the Fast Stop in Odell was reported by the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office, but no suspect has been named in that case.

Beck is a former Sheridan Correctional Center inmate who was paroled on Aug. 3. He has a criminal history dating back to 1987 and was imprisoned for armed robbery with a firearm, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.