Accused ‘Polite Robber’ charged, reported to have confessed

65-year-old Gregory Paul Hess is now charged in the videotaped stickup at Roxbury Shell that brought him the nickname “Polite Robber” – eight years after, as we first reported early Tuesday, he gained infamy as the “Transaction Bandit.” The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Hess with one count of first-degree robbery for last Saturday’s heist. The charging documents reveal a few new details about what happened after the videotaped robbery: First, the station owner didn’t just stand there – he called 911 and then walked out into the parking lot to try to get the license-plate number of the vehicle the robber got away in. The King County Sheriff’s Office (which has jurisdiction because the gas station is outside city limits) got “several tips” on the Monday after the robbery, all identifying the man on the video as Gregory Hess. A detective looked up the name and found it belonged to a 65-year-old man on probation after serving time for bank robbery; federal probation authorities had an address for him in the Top Hat area, and investigators got a search warrant (after the robbery victim identified Hess in a photo lineup). When they found him there, the charging papers say, he told them, “I’m the one you’re looking for.” He also is reported to have pointed them to the pellet gun used during the robbery. While being questioned, authorities say, Hess confessed, saying he got $200 from the robbery and used it to buy food and gas and to pay a cell-phone bill, then depositing the remaining $90 in his bank account. Tonight, he remains in jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, and his arraignment is set for two weeks from today. (Photo: Washington Department of Corrections)

WSRes February 10, 2011 (8:22 pm)

A little surprising that this guy gets a $250,000 bail for robbing a gas station with a pellet gun while Starckenburg gets only $175,000 bail for attacking and fondling three women. I guess the system views armed robbery as being worse than indecent liberties, but this seems wrong to me.

I. Ponder February 10, 2011 (8:34 pm)

Charged? But he said he was sorry!

Pam February 10, 2011 (9:02 pm)

It’s kind of like Bernie Madoff – awful what he did, horrible, terrible but murderers get a lighter sentance – you don’t mess with people’s money!

wsguy February 10, 2011 (9:40 pm)

I sure wish the media would quit giving these pathetic,troubled people these pet names to put an entertainment spin ie polite robber,transaction bandit and barefoot bandit. These guys feed on the hard working people and deserve the full weight of our justice system. And the shame along with it.

sgt.hartman February 11, 2011 (12:24 am)

I don’t imagine saying “no thank you” is going to do him any good where he’s going. Seriously though . . . kudos to the station owner. For having a gun pointed at him, he was as cool as the other side of the pillow. He tried to negotiate with the robber and then had the presence of mind to go after the robber’s license plate. I probaby would have folded like a Kmart tent in his shoes.

Mary February 11, 2011 (3:18 am)

I have to wonder if the robber actually wants to be in prison. Does he have some serious health problem? Or maybe he is after 3 hots (meals) and a cot?

LR February 11, 2011 (8:51 am)

Do people like him Escalate this to the next level when they dont get the attention there looking for?
it would be better to keep him locked up, the worry he may hurt someone.