West Seattle Crime Watch: Junction Key Bank robbed

| Crime | West Seattle news

(surveillance camera photo from FBI, added 12:36 pm)

(photo added 12:01 pm)
ORIGINAL 11:45 AM REPORT: Happened within the past half-hour. Officer Mark Jamieson of Seattle Police says the call to police said the robber was described as male, white, maybe 40s, 5-8 to 5-11, thin build, with a beard, wearing a purple sweatshirt and brown knit cap. No one hurt; no word of whether he showed a weapon. A search is still under way in the area. More from the scene shortly.

12:11 PM UPDATE: Police are searching on the northeast side of The Junction as well, which explains the reports that Holy Rosary School is “in lockdown,” per trustable source in comments. Tilden School north of The Junction also reports being in lockdown as well, as does Hope Lutheran.

12:33 PM UPDATE: Just received the official news release from the Seattle FBI office:

The Key Bank at 4701 California Ave SW in West Seattle was robbed today at 11:12 am by a white male, 35-45 years of age, 5’8″-6′ tall, thin build, full beard and mustache, dirty appearance, wearing a purple knit cap and a purple hooded sweatshirt. He entered the bank through the east doors, approached the teller and presented a demand note. He did not display a weapon or imply that he had one. He was given money and he left the bank through the west doors and was last seen running northbound up the alley past Wells Fargo Bank.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 206 622-0460.

The FBI also sent photos – added one atop this report; here’s the other one:

Meantime, as noted in comments, the school lockdowns are ending.

4:49 PM UPDATE: Just checked with Seattle Police. No arrest so far.

DML April 30, 2009 (11:54 am)

Was just seeing a friend off back to Bellingham and we heard then saw the helicopter- yellow-King5?- circling up over California. I ran back in the house saying “WSB will have the scoop” and sure enough. He will take Beach Drive now. THANKS!

Scooper April 30, 2009 (12:02 pm)

Does anyone if Holy Rosary School or Hope Lutheran are in locked down?

WSB April 30, 2009 (12:06 pm)

shouldn’t be, this is several blocks away. and police tell us at the scene that they are “winding down” the search. even if something happens right NEXT TO a scene like this (see Concord Elementary, yesterday) it’s generally not “lockdown” but “shelter in place” … TR

GG April 30, 2009 (12:10 pm)

Just heard on police scanner that Holy Rosary is in lockdown

SRS April 30, 2009 (12:11 pm)

Holy Rosary is in lock down

WSB April 30, 2009 (12:16 pm)

Just got word that the police search continued to the north, so that would explain it.

J April 30, 2009 (12:19 pm)

Tilden School is also in lockdown.

Scooper April 30, 2009 (12:22 pm)

Thank everyone – I knew I could count on the Blog and all of the readers.

Rats in a cage April 30, 2009 (12:23 pm)

Ok.. even before the economy turned sour, every bank between the Morgan Junction and the Admiral Junction had been robbed in the span of a couple of years. Some banks more than once like this Keybank banch. So, I am just wondering how we put a stop to this BS?! This just adds to the decline of WS IMO.

T April 30, 2009 (12:26 pm)

Helicopters are gone. Are the police still looking for the suspect? Nobody on California and Alaska St. looks like their in a panic.

WSB April 30, 2009 (12:27 pm)

Hope is in lockdown – which means doors locked, didn’t go out to recess.

Scooper April 30, 2009 (12:30 pm)

I just got off the phone with Holy Rosary and they are no longer in lock down

J April 30, 2009 (12:34 pm)

Tilden is no longer in lockdown.

Alice April 30, 2009 (12:38 pm)

I KNEW I would find the answers here! I was talking to a Hope Lutheran teacher on the phone when she suddenly had to go because they were going into lockdown. I assumed a drill, but thought I’d check WSB anyway – sure enough, the answers are available!

I’m just glad it was precautions and not a direct threat at the school.

JunctionMonkey April 30, 2009 (12:38 pm)

AN OBSERVATION – I walked by Key Bank probably no more than ten minutes before the robbery took place. Of course, I saw nothing. This bank (and others) all have tinted glass so that customers can look out, but passers-by cannot easily look in. This strikes me as the opposite of what is needed. Shouldn’t business like this have glass and lighting that make it easy to look in during business hours? The right glass (with sun screen) with the right lighting would allow observation of what’s happening inside. Turn the lights off after hours, and you can’t see in.

CallMeAl April 30, 2009 (12:59 pm)

isn’t this – like, the fiftieth time they’ve been robbed? who even uses banks these days? or green money?

Plastic and online for me, thank you.

doglover April 30, 2009 (1:01 pm)

Loss prevention would agree with you. People should be able to see whats going on inside, it helps the perp feel more a little more uncertain about pulling off the crime.

ellenater April 30, 2009 (1:02 pm)

He looks like a hippie. He can’t be far. Hippies move rather slowly. ;)

christopherboffoli April 30, 2009 (1:43 pm)

ellenater: LOL.
.
Am I missing it or was there no mention at all of a dye pack? Or in the case of this robber a tie-dye pack.

GG April 30, 2009 (1:49 pm)

Hippie? Somebody lost in the ’60s?

M. April 30, 2009 (1:55 pm)

That’s sooo scary! I was having lunch at Easy Street at that time. I saw them stop a guy and question him about it, but let him go shortly after.

WSB April 30, 2009 (1:58 pm)

Officer Jamieson did mention someone was questioned but turned out not to have been involved, so was released – TR

onceachef April 30, 2009 (2:01 pm)

No wonder there was a State Patrol car behind me on California (heading towards the junction)…thought it was odd for him to be there.

MAD April 30, 2009 (2:31 pm)

I saw the arrest in front of Cupcake Royale. Nothing like the description they had stated on this blog.

KBear April 30, 2009 (4:04 pm)

Some suspenders would look sharp with that beard.

WSB April 30, 2009 (4:17 pm)

MAD, I assume you are referring to the person who was questioned and released? There is no one in custody to my knowledge, though I’m about to check with police again … TR

TCN April 30, 2009 (4:33 pm)

Hope Lutheran was in a lock down. My daughter was in preschool at the time. My husband was volunteering. They did a great job keeping the kids safe.

WSB April 30, 2009 (4:49 pm)

I just checked with police – still no arrests – so all the info here stands … TR

Kathleen April 30, 2009 (9:16 pm)

Oh my god. with all the negative responses when people post news bulletins about car break ins, when I saw this post i thought to myself, oh great, now some a-hole is going to say banks shouldn’t keep money on hand as it attracts robbers. Well, it wasn’t quite that response, but it was close. ” Shouldn’t business like this have glass and lighting that make it easy to look in during business hours?” followed by “Plastic and online for me, thank you.”
How about, bad guys do bad things and victimize people and we should all be sympathetic and not aholes ourselves?
That would be nice.

Bob Loblaw April 30, 2009 (9:47 pm)

Well, we can certainly hope, Kathleen. But those days are pretty much over. Wild Wild West Seattle needs some vigilanties, or at least the 100,000 German Shepards …

Jen April 30, 2009 (11:14 pm)

I thought the comment about the tinted windows was pretty sharp, myself!

KateMcA May 1, 2009 (9:56 am)

I agree with the glass comment, but bank robberies are often not the guy with ski mask and gun that people think they are. Most of them happen with just passing a note to the teller, so people on the street wouldn’t know what was going on until after the fact anyway. It might, however, keep some other unsuspecting customer from walking into the bank and becoming another potential hostage if the situation goes bad. It’s not a bad thought.

Rats in a cage May 1, 2009 (11:28 am)

Did cops catch the @hole who robbed the rite aid pharmacy a few months ago? I don’t think so. What about the unsolved murder of Steven Bushaw?

There have been many incidents within these few blocks… Mr Bushaw gunned down, rite aid robbery, motorcyclist hit by someone trying to make an illegal turn, key bank being robbed multiple times, vandalism at Junction stores, laptops being stolen from cup cake royale, some dude going on a tear and sideswiping about 13 cars, multiple reports of nearby homes and cars being burglarized, etc, etc .. Is this what West Seattle has become? And most importantly why? It is not the economy unless we have been in a depression for about 10 years.

Maybe it is a case of too many rats in a cage? If so, I’m glad there are 3 mega condo develeopments going in nearby.

WSB May 1, 2009 (11:29 am)

Answer to first two: No arrests yet.

TeresaP May 1, 2009 (1:08 pm)

And people wonder why gun sales are up….

WTF May 1, 2009 (8:00 pm)

This is such BullS#!+. The guy had the balls to rob the bank on the business section in West Seattle?! How sad. When I was a kid the biggest school “lock-down” was when someone pulled the fire alarm during senior week or someone called in a pathetic bomb threat during finals.

Rats, you got it right. How about if this piece of crap robs the guy who came up with the high-density concept. House if for sale!!

My2Cents May 2, 2009 (12:04 am)

Rats in a cage – I agree completely. It’s BS like this, and graffiti, and our local government’s insatiable appetite for more density (poorly planned in my opinion) that is pushing this City down the crapper. Want to see Seattle’s future in 20 years? Look at the big, dense, crime-ridden cities on the east coast.

This town is in denial. I move to this area to put that depressed environment behind me.

PS: If you don’t already know it – watch for the pay parking meters in the Junction. Somehow, our spineless, greedy bureaucratic “leaders” (and I use the term with tongue in cheek) want to convince us that we have a parking problem, and pay meters will fix it. I don’t know about you, but I can count on my one had how many times in the last 4 years I couldn’t find a parking spot close to the business I wanted to visit.

Sorry, comment time is over.