Maintenance Man Loots CU In CityHall

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - (06/16/05) -- A former city hall maintenanceworker pleaded guilty Tuesday to robbing Springfield City EmployeesCU of more than $11,000 last December 20 while the credit unionmanager left the building for a couple of hours. Silas Johnson, 31,had placed a piece of clear tape over the strike plate of the vaultroom so the lock wouldn't engage when the manager left the officefor a meeting around 4:50 pm. When she returned around 6:30 pm, themanager noticed the door to the vault room open and a metalmoneybox containing $11,427 missing. Police tied Johnson to thetheft from fingerprints lifted from the tape on the strike plate ofthe vault door. Johnson handed the moneybox to an accomplice whogot scared and tossed in a dumpster outside city hall, where policeeventually retrieved the box with all of the money init.