Shoreline bank robbers arrested in Snohomish County Tuesday

By Sgt. John Urquhart, King County Sheriff's Office

Two bank robbers in their 60’s were arrested in Snohomish County late Tuesday afternoon by Sheriff's detectives. Investigators believe the men are responsible for at last three bank robberies in Shoreline and two in Seattle since July, either together or separately.

The two were arrested by detectives while driving late this afternoon in the Mukilteo area.

The arrested men, 64 and 65 years old respectively, will be booked into the King County Jail later this afternoon. Both are convicted felons.

Gauze for disguise

Detectives from the Sheriff's Office, Shoreline Police, Seattle Police, and the FBI have been working together to solve the string of robberies, leading to the arrests today.

On July 6th the KeyBank at 17500 Aurora Ave North was robbed one of the men who demanded money from a teller. He was disguised by putting gauze under both eyes. (see photo). No weapon was seen.

Robber at Wells Fargo Bank

The second Shoreline robbery was September 12th at the Wells Fargo (see story), 14500 Greenwood Ave North. The two robbers entered the bank wearing Halloween-type masks. One was armed with a pistol-grip shotgun and the other with a handgun. The suspect with the handgun set the gun down on a counter while he went into the teller cages to empty the cash drawer. When he came back around he forgot the weapon and had to be reminded by his partner to retrieve it.

The third robbery was on October 3rd. The same KeyBank at 175th and Aurora was robbed again. This time a lone gunman went into the bank wearing a Bill Clinton mask and holding a pistol grip shotgun. Nine employees and customers were in the bank. The robber demanded everyone get down on the floor except for one customer he told to gather money from the teller drawers. While doing so he racked a shotgun round from his weapon which fell to the floor.

In addition there were two robberies in Seattle which detectives attribute to the men.