Bank robbery suspect causes bomb scare after chase, carjacking
EDMONDS, Wash. - A Seattle bank robbery suspect crashed his getaway car in Edmonds while fleeing from police at high speeds and caused a bomb scare after dropping a device that was made to look like a pipe bomb.
Seattle police Assistant Chief Paul McDonagh said the drama began Saturday morning when a man robbed a Wells Fargo bank branch in the 13200 block of Aurora Avenue North and told bank employees that he had explosives.
After getting money from the tellers, the robber ran outside and approached a truck driven by Jake Gift, who was getting coffee from a nearby espresso stand.
"He needed an escape route, so he jumped in my truck and told me to drive," Gift said.
"He didn't threaten to kill me or hurt me. I just tried to stay calm and talk to the dude."
The man forced Gift to drive north several blocks and then jumped got of the truck and got into a gold Ford Explorer.
Soon afterward, a King County sheriff's deputy spotted the SUV in the Shoreline area and took off in pursuit.
The suspect then headed toward Edmonds, racing through the downtown streets at high speed before rolling his car and crashing at the end of a dead-end road near the waterfront, McDonagh said.
The man was pulled from the SUV and officers saw what appeared to be a pipe bomb inside the vehicle.
Officers arrested the man and called the bomb squad, which determined the device was a fake.
The 30-year-old suspect was booked into the King County Jail.
Seattle police Assistant Chief Paul McDonagh said the drama began Saturday morning when a man robbed a Wells Fargo bank branch in the 13200 block of Aurora Avenue North and told bank employees that he had explosives.
After getting money from the tellers, the robber ran outside and approached a truck driven by Jake Gift, who was getting coffee from a nearby espresso stand.
"He needed an escape route, so he jumped in my truck and told me to drive," Gift said.
"He didn't threaten to kill me or hurt me. I just tried to stay calm and talk to the dude."
The man forced Gift to drive north several blocks and then jumped got of the truck and got into a gold Ford Explorer.
Soon afterward, a King County sheriff's deputy spotted the SUV in the Shoreline area and took off in pursuit.
The suspect then headed toward Edmonds, racing through the downtown streets at high speed before rolling his car and crashing at the end of a dead-end road near the waterfront, McDonagh said.
The man was pulled from the SUV and officers saw what appeared to be a pipe bomb inside the vehicle.
Officers arrested the man and called the bomb squad, which determined the device was a fake.
The 30-year-old suspect was booked into the King County Jail.
thank god nobody was hurt nor any animals harmed during the chase.
I wonder if he posted $200.00 bail yet and is back out on the streets?
So he "jumped got of the truck." Never heard that term before.
Bye, bye.... go directly to jail.. nutball!
 @Funky-Munky Can he collect $200?
 @Larry*X*K @Funky-Munky Probably only in bail bonds if anything, but not by passing Go! ;)
'The situation remains fluid'? I've never heard that before.Â
 @SoTweetie If that bomb goes off while he's still strapped in, he'll be "fluid" alright.
They're on a roll today. Ranks right up there with "the causing driver" in the Lake Stevens car crash earlier today. Very elegant....
 @Throbbinhood Both are grammatically correct even if they sound weird to you.Â
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@lakeview We understand that, but to regular viewers of the site, it does seem to be new territory for the web writers. And I mean that fluidly.
Looks like an Oregon plate on the vehicle.Â
 @Citizen#3457899654 Time to declare war on them damn oregonians. I think we can take them.
@Citizen#3457899654 It's one of those fancy numberless plates...
Hopefully he's yet another serial robber they can wipe off the FBI blotter.
They should just shoot the device strapped to the man to see if it will blow up.
@Rockberry Ok he rob a bank the same bank that rob so many people in the last ten yrs. The man is stealing bank money not your money yes I know that this is wrong but maybe he is not all there or a hardship because of the banks bad practice, so lets not blow this one up.
 @nunof uors There is zero excuse for robbing a bank, try again.
 @nunof uors If someone is facing hardship, it's not because of the practices of a bank. If they signed a deal with a bank that they couldn't pull their weight on, still not the bank's fault. Â
 @nunof uors  @Rockberry Ok..whatever you say 99% er.
I'm on board!
 @Rockberry Works for me.