Officers identify bank robbery suspect in downtown Milwaukee
Rodney O'Neal
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Police arrested a man they say is suspected of robbing two banks in downtown Milwaukee earlier this month.
Officers Keith Cameron and John Tabaska were on foot patrol during the lunch hour on Thursday, February 21st when they approached 45-year-old Rodney O'Neal. He was near Water and Mason in downtown Milwaukee and matched a description of the man that robbed two banks nearby.
"I happened to look to the right then I noticed a subject we had been looking for," said Cameron. "He had the same clothing on and his facial description was the same."
When the officers approached, police said O'Neal heard Cameron's radio and looked over his shoulder.
"Ordered him to stop he complied put his hands up in the air," said Cameron.
O'Neal was not armed when he was taken into custody. But there was a moment of uncertainty when he uttered the following to Tabaska.
"He then proceeded to tell me I'm going to put you into my book," said Tabaska. He was concerned at first, but as O'Neal kept talking, he assured he and the officers that his arrest was actually a sigh of relief.
"He went further into saying I was minutes away from doing something really stupid that could've cost me my life and what you did actually stopped and saved my life," said Tabaska.
O'Neal later confessed to detectives to robbing two banks in downtown Milwaukee.
The video just below is surveillance which shows the officers making the arrest of O'Neal.
O'Neal is suspected of robbing the Associated Bank branch at Wisconsin Ave. and Water St. on Wednesday, February 6th. Officials say he's also responsible for robbed the US Bank Branch near Wisconsin and Plankinton Avenues on Friday, February 8th. In each of the crimes, the suspect (presumably O'Neal) implied he had a weapon and demanded money.
Officer Cameron is a 21-year veteran of the Milwaukee Police Department. Officer Tabaska has been on the force for 23 years.