'Inner tube robbery' suspect arrested

MONROE - A man suspected of robbing an armored truck in September then fleeing down the Skykomish River on an inner tube has been arrested, police said.

Police investigate the scene of the armored truck robbery on Sept. 30.

Anthony J. Curcio, 28, of Lake Stevens was booked into the Snohomish County Jail on Monday evening for investigation of first-degree robbery. His bail was set at $250,000 on Tuesday.

A second man, Robert G. Ellis, 26, of Monroe, who was with Curcio at the time of arrest, also was booked into jail on suspicion of possessing stolen property.

Officers said a significant amount of money was found at the time of arrest.

During the robbery, on Sept. 30, a suspect grabbed a bag of money from a Brinks armored truck outside the Bank of America at State Highway 2 and Old Owen Road in Monroe.

Police said the suspect pepper-sprayed the armored truck's security guard, grabbed the money bag and fled on foot towards Woods Creek.

As he ran, the suspect dropped a pepper-spray canister, a smaller bag of money, a hat, wig and sunglasses and a white particle mask. He jumped onto an inner tube and fled down the creek toward the Skykomish River, eluding police.

The inner tube that police believe was used to flee the scene of the armed robbery.

A few days before the robbery, it's believed that the suspect placed an advertisement on Craigslist for laborers to work a landscape job in the areas near the Bank of America.

Several workers showed up in work clothes, as requested by the advertisement, that were similar to what the suspect was seen wearing, to confuse police searching for the suspect.

During the investigation that followed, detectives learned that three weeks before the robbery, a concerned citizen found a pile of items behind a dumpster near the Bank of America and notified a Monroe city worker.

In the pile of items was a black two-way radio, a "yellow safety" reflective vest, a black wig with a short ponytail, dark sunglasses;, a large can of mace and a baseball cap. All of these items were similar to ones recovered by investigators from the scene of the Brinks robbery.

The concerned citizen also saw a man exit a silver SUV-type vehicle and gather up all of the items. The witness wrote down the license of the vehicle and gave it to the city worker. This license came back to the suspect's wife with a Lake Stevens address.

DNA was collected from evidence gathered at the scene and on Oct. 28 the Washington State Patrol crime lab sent the Monroe police a DNA report that matched Anthony Curcio's.

Police said the investigation is continuing and additional search warrants and arrests may be forthcoming.

Anyone with information regarding the inner tube or the robbery is asked to contact the Monroe Police Department at 360-794-6300. Anonymous information may be left on the department's tip line at 360-863-4600.