South King County Bank Robbery Suspect Corralled

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By By Kevin Reece

Summary

Deputies chase by car and on foot, then wait out their man found cowering in a hotel laundry room.

Story Published: Mar 25, 2003 at 4:34 AM PDT

Story Updated: Jul 24, 2009 at 11:14 AM PDT

KING COUNTY - After a police chase, foot pursuit, and 3-hour standoff, a King County SWAT Team found a bank robbery suspect cowering in a corner and captured him without firing a single shot Monday night.

Sheriff's deputies say it started with an afternoon bank robbery at the Key Bank branch in Normandy Park at 178th and 1st South. The robber gave the teller a note saying he had a gun. He escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash and raced away on a red motorcycle.

His escape ended when he collided with a King County Sheriff squad car at the intersection of South 188th and International Boulevard near Sea-Tac Airport and across the street from the Doubletree Hotel. Knocked off the motorcycle, the suspect dropped his bag of money and ran.

"He continued eastbound around the back of the hotel with a number of deputies right on his heels," said King County Sheriff Office spokesman Kevin Fagerstrom.

They chased him to a laundry building at the back of the hotel and that's where he stayed, cowering inside and refusing to answer the demands of a police negotiator for the next three hours. A fully armed SWAT Team finally entered the building and, after just a three-minute search, found the suspect hiding inside. He didn't have a gun and was taken into custody without a single shot fired.

"He was pretty desperate and it's just very good that it came to a safe and fairly quick resolution," said FBI spokesperson Melissa Schuler.

The FBI also says the suspect matches the description and MO of a robber who has hit three other times in recent weeks -- robberies in Kent, White Center, and Federal Way.

The hotel itself continued to operate normally during the standoff. Only the laundry facility at the back of the hotel was affected, although several hotel guests were escorted to their cars in the east parking lot by armed officers just to make sure they were safe while the standoff was underway.