Kenosha man accused of robbing bank, bomb scare held on $250K cash (2024)

A 51-year-old Kenosha man and former Racine police officer is facing criminal charges after allegedly robbing a bank and making a bomb scare earlier this month in Pleasant Prairie.

Paul J. Garchek was charged in Kenosha County Circuit Court with robbery of a financial institution and making a bomb scare, both felonies.

Garchek made his initial appearance at Intake Court Monday afternoon where a court commissioner imposed a $250,000 cash bond. He remained in custody Tuesday afternoon.

A preliminary hearing is set for April 23.

According to the criminal complaint, at 12:30 p.m. on April 6, a person calling from a blocked number told a Pleasant Prairie detective there were numerous explosive devices at Costco before disconnecting.

Soon after the call, officers were sent to the popular warehouse store, 7707 94th Ave., and a command center was established nearby. Customers and employees were evacuated.

Ultimately, no explosive devices were found.

During the five-hour evacuation and search, the store reported a loss of nearly $330,000 in revenue, spoiled merchandise and payroll expenses.

While evacuating the store, police were alerted to a robbery at Chase Bank, 9900 39th Ave. At the time of the robbery all on-duty personnel from the Pleasant Prairie Police Department and several neighboring agencies were at Costco. Some were diverted to investigate the bank robbery.

When police arrived, a bank teller said that around 12:55 p.m. a man walked up to the counter, demanded cash and appeared to have a firearm in a pocket. The man then fled in a dark Toyota Camry south on 39th Avenue.

The man reportedly made off with about $7,200 in cash.

Investigators contacted wireless carriers about the call from the blocked number. The device used in the bomb threat was reportedly not registered to anyone but was used by someone just before the bomb scare to call Garchek, according to the criminal complaint. The phone’s location data also reportedly had it in the area of Garchek’s residence the day before and morning of the robbery.

Investigators found Garchek’s address and learned that a dark Camry is registered to him.

That car was captured on camera near the bank before the robbery and the cellphone that was used to make the bomb threat was used within about a mile of the bank, according to the complaint.

Garchek worked for the Racine Police Department from 1997 to 2010 but stopped working for the department after developing an opioid addiction that later resulted in charges for prescription fraud and armed robbery, according to the complaint.

In 2014, he was charged and later found guilty of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and armed robbery, according to online court records.

On April 12, a search warrant was executed at Garchek’s house in the 6300 block of 11th Avenue. Inside, officers reportedly found an airsoft gun, scanner and torn up paper that had writing regarding explosive devices.

Garchek was arrested there.