Website, Photos Helping Feds Capture Bank Robbery Suspects

(CBS) -- The Bully Bandit. The Hooded Bandit.

Those nicknames -- along with a BanditTracker website -- are playing an increasingly big role in nabbing bank robbery suspects.

Garrett Croon, FBI's bank robbery coordinator, describes it as "one-stop-shopping for bank robberies."

With 122 banks in the Chicago area robbed so far this year, BanditTracker is an important tool.

The site posts images from bank-security cameras, descriptions, and details like tattoos.

Earlier this month, a cicero investigator spotted a familiar face at the site.

That led to the arrest of Rodgrigo Medellin, who was suspected in a dozen bank robberies and nicknamed the "No Boundaries Bandit" for striking all over.

Nicknames are mostly used for serial robbers, about one-third of the suspects. Croon says it's an especially dumb crime.

"For the small amount of cash you're going to get from a bank robbery, you're facing up to 20 years in prison," he says.

Three of every four suspects are caught. Croon would most like to catch one suspect in particular: a man who robbed the First Midwest Bank of Bolingbrook.

"The offender entered without saying a word and fired a shot and struck an employee in the arm," Croon says.

The reward for that violent offender: $25,000. Croon says the real victims in these crimes are the bank tellers and customers who often have guns put in their faces and are traumatized by these violent acts.