West Seattle Crime Watch followups: Robbery suspect in court; bank holdup details

Two followups tonight on robberies covered in West Seattle Crime Watch over the past five days:

ROBBERY SUSPECT IN COURT: The 22-year-old man arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection with a robbery hours earlier remains in jail tonight; a judge set his bail at $15,000 during a hearing in a jailhouse courtroom this afternoon. Probable-cause documents say the robbery started as a shoplifting incident; the man allegedly walked out of the Charlestown/California 7-11 without paying for a container of Muscle Milk. A store employee, who told police the suspect is known as a “chronic shoplifter” at that 7-11 and two others, followed him out and confronted him a few blocks away, in the alley on the east side of California/Spokane, telling him to return the beverage. At that point, the employee told police, the suspect pulled out a fixed-blade knife and swung it at him, at which time the employee retreated and the suspect ran away. As we mentioned in Tuesday’s report, a surveillance photo was circulated to police, and about two hours after the incident, Officer Sara Mulloy spotted the suspect walking toward and into the West Seattle PCC; backups were called, and the suspect was arrested.

He’s due back in court Friday. The police report says his “last known address” was in Tukwila but that he is currently “living in his vehicle on the streets in West Seattle.”

SATURDAY BANK ROBBERY: We’ve finally obtained more details on Saturday’s robbery at Umpqua Bank in The Admiral District, the first bank robbery in West Seattle in more than a year. The incident report adds a little more to what we reported Saturday: The robber first came into the bank and said he wanted to open an account but had to wait for his wife. He sat down in the bank’s coffee area and made a call on his cell phone. After all the other customers in the bank were gone, he walked up to a teller and passed a note demanding money. The report says a customer came in and the robber, apparently startled, ran out, and was then seen, as we reported on Saturday, getting into a champagne-colored 4-door car; it was last seen headed southbound on 42nd SW. The robber is described in the report as a Samoan man in his 40s, heavy muscular build, full head of shaggy hair, gray goatee, tattoo on the left side of his neck, white shirt, jeans.

1 Reply to "West Seattle Crime Watch followups: Robbery suspect in court; bank holdup details"

  • WS Resident August 13, 2015 (9:40 am)

    Ha-Ha…Good job police…Thank you for taking that dangerous loser off the streets for a little while at least.

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