Autistic bank robberies suspect died in federal custody

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A 23-year-old man from the Midwest charged with holding up seven banks in New Jersey died recently after being hospitalized while in the custody of federal authorities in Chicago.

Federal officials have not explained or elaborated on what happened to Tyler O’Toole, who died on Feb. 17.

His parents, in Cleveland, Ohio, say authorities have also not explained his death to them, leaving them with many more questions than answers about the passing of their son - who was on the autism spectrum. They have hired an attorney to investigate.

We understand there were internal and external investigations conducted following his death, but to date, not a single statement and/or explanation has been provided, publicly or privately, regarding the facts and circumstances of Tyler’s death from any federal representatives,” the parents’ lawyer, Rob Kohen, told NJ Advance Media.

O’Toole was briefly the subject of a manhunt in November when the FBI linked him to several bank robberies in New Jersey. He’d already been charged with committing a bank robbery in Chicago, where he’d been staying, and had allegedly fled home detention, hopped in his mother’s car and headed east, the FBI said.

A few days after the FBI publicized its search for O’Toole, investigators arrested him in Queens, New York. The FBI in New Jersey charged him in five bank robberies and two more attempts. He allegedly struck in five New Jersey counties, from Morris to Camden, and used a manilla envelope with a robbery announcement written in black marker, the FBI alleged.

O’Toole appeared in federal court in New Jersey but was eventually transferred and incarcerated in Chicago, court documents show. He was indicted in December on one count of bank robbery in the Chicago area, and a count of bail jumping.

Other than a status update on his case in early January, no documents were filed until Feb. 16, when his defense attorney and the prosecutors on the case consented to his release from custody and mentioned his “hospitalization and current medical condition.” Prosecutors in Chicago and New Jersey consented to him being released on bond.

He died the next day.