We’ve just learned that a suspect is in jail on suspicion of Monday’s West Seattle bank robbery and four other robberies. We requested followup information on the case this morning and when police sent it to us a short time ago, it included the information that a 24-year-old woman had been arrested, as well as report narrative from the holdup at WaFd Bank north of The Junction.
The report says the robber who held up the bank just after 4 pm Monday “entered the bank and approached (a worker who) was not initially at his teller desk, so he walked over to it as (the robber) followed. He stated that (the robber) then pulled out a … wallet …, opened it up to reveal a note stating that she had a gun, to not provide “prop” money, and to not call the police. (The robber) then pulled out a black handgun and placed it on the counter all while apologizing. (The employee) did not have any cash inside his drawer, so he called over his manager … to assist him…. (the robber) wanted her to open the vault and … asked that she go get her keys from her desk. (The robber) went with (the manager) to her desk and watched as she removed the key.”
Redactions make the narrative difficult to follow from there until “(the robber) then approached (a worker’s) desk holding the handgun low at her waist and he stated it appeared she was struggling to keep ahold of it. (The robber) then pulled up her sling bag and set the gun down on the desk. Once XXXX handed over the cash, (the robber) struggled to put it inside her sling bag because she already had cash inside. (The robber) placed the gun and the cash inside her bag and then left the bank in an unknown direction.”
The narrative provided to us does not say how police identified and tracked the suspect who they arrested, but says she was found “in the 4700 block of 20th Ave NE”; when searched, the report says, officers “located a pellet gun and cash from the robbery. (The suspect) was wearing the same clothing as seen in surveillance videos of the bank robbery.” According to the jail roster, she is being held for investigation of five robberies, with bail set at half a million dollars. We hope to find out more from prosecutors tomorrow.
