A convicted bank robber robbed a Munster bank, highjacked a car in Lansing, crashed it into a garage that burst into flames and caused both the injury of three Munster police officers and the closure of one of Lansing's busiest stretches, police and the FBI said.

Kevin Dortch, 37, of Lansing, is jailed in Hammond pending charges, said FBI Senior Agent Mark Becker.

A federal complaint was being written Friday afternoon, and federal charges in connection with the bank robbery and carjacking could come today, Becker said.

Robbed about 11:20 a.m. was the TCF Bank branch inside the Jewel-Osco at 716 Ridge Road.

A chase ensued, and officers say Dortch carjacked a minivan stopped at the light at Wentworth Avenue and Ridge Road in Lansing.

Police say they arrested Dortch after he crashed the van into a detached garage between a home at 3527 Lake St. and the Beggar's Pizza restaurant. The garage housed another vehicle and gasoline or propane containers.

Officers surrounded the scene and eventually used a Taser to subdue the offender, Munster Police Chief Nick Panich said.

It wasn't immediately known whether the crash or the Taser ignited the fire, the chief said.

"The Taser may have set off the fumes in the garage, which became engulfed in flames and burned another garage to the east," Panich said of the fire. "I saw sparks (from the Taser), but I don't know if that was gas vapors being ignited."

Wendy Osborne, an FBI special agent from Indianapolis, said the suspect at the TCF/Jewel stood in line with customers, and witnesses saw him talking on a cell phone.

Wearing a two-piece gray suit, the man approached the teller and presented a note that demanded money, instructed the teller to not include a dye pack and implied he had a gun, Osborne said.

Witnesses told the FBI no gun was displayed, and the man ran away with an undisclosed amount of money, she said.

Munster Police Chief Nick Panich said that set off a four- or five-minute chain of events:

-- With police chasing, the suspect drove into Lansing and crashed a SUV into a home at 183rd and Maple streets before running.

-- From there, he ran west to the intersection of Wentworth Avenue and Ridge Road, where he carjacked a woman's minivan.

-- As squad cars from Lansing and Munster tried to block the van, he crashed into a Munster police SUV and drove the stolen van into a parked car in the Walgreens parking lot.

-- From there, the man sped down Ridge Road and around to Randolph Street, where he crashed into the Lake Street garage and the fire started.

The fire was "a nasty one," Lansing Fire Chief Dan Gregorovic said. "It took us 20 to 25 minutes to get a hold of it and get it knocked out."

No civilians were injured.

Three Munster police officers were treated at The Community Hospital for injuries suffered in the chase, Panich said.

One was treated and released after receiving X-rays for a wrist injury, and another officer was being held for observation after suffering smoke inhalation, Panich said. One officer, who tried to grab the van that Dortch is accused of carjacking, suffered cuts and was treated and released, Panich said.

Dortch was also treated at The Community Hospital and released, Panich said.

Dortch served prison time after a 1994 bank robbery conviction, and the FBI is examining whether he might be linked to at least five other bank robberies dating back to June, Becker said.

-- Times Staff Writer Vanessa Renderman contributed to this report.

View a video of eyewitnesses recounting their stories of the police chase that followed a bank robbery and ended in a fiery crash in Lansing:

http://nwitimes.videos.vmixcore.com/p/video?id=1510019