Local News

Surveillance photo of the ‘Alabama Band Bandit.’ (FBI photo) The Associated Press A serial bank robber called the “Alabama Band Robber” because of the hat he wore during the crimes has pleaded guilty to robbing five banks during the month of July. Michael Ryan Hardesty of Woodinville also pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen firearm. Hardesty robbed two banks in…

The Associated Press A man suspected of being the “Alabama Band Bandit” faces felony charges of robbing five banks in July in Lynnwood, Bellingham and Shoreline. Federal prosecutors Friday also charged Michael Ryan Hardesty with possessing a stolen firearm. Hardesty had recently been released from federal prison after being sentenced to 7 1/2 years in 2008…

Courtesy Lynnwood Police Department Courtesy Lynnwood Police Department A man who implied he had a weapon robbed a Chase bank in a Lynnwood Fred Meyer store Saturday afternoon. The man, who entered the store at 4615 196th St. S.W. at about 4 p.m., is described as white, 5 feet 3 inches tall and was estimated to…

  Surveillance photo of the Northgate bank robber (Seattle police photo) Seattle police hope someone out there will recognize this surveillance photo of a man who robbed a bank in Northgate on Saturday afternoon. The man walked into the bank in the 11100 block of Roosevelt Way Northeast shortly before closing, told an employee he was robbing the bank and…

A man who rammed a King County Sheriff’s patrol car several times Saturday night with a pickup truck on Vashon Island and drove off while a deputy fired several shots was found early Sunday morning on the island by deputies who fired a Taser as he tried to run. Deputies arrested the man around 4:30 a.m.,…

Seattle Police detectives suspected a Christmas Day bank robbery may have been an inside job: The robber entered a Fremont bank through an unlocked door at about 3 a.m., put tape over a vault room camera and pried open the compartment containing the safe’s combination, Detective Drew Fowler of the Seattle Police Department said. On Monday…

Bank surveillance photo of the so-called “The Man in the Rubber Mask.” (FBI photos) Another photo taken during a different bank robbery. Who was that masked man? The FBI and Seattle Safe Streets Task Force would like to know. The bank robber dubbed “The Man in the Rubber Mask” is believed to have robbed at least four different…

Surveillance photo of the man dubbed the “Roscoe Bandit.” (FBI photo) The man believed to be Washington bank robber known as the “Roscoe Bandit” was arrested Wednesday in Oregon, the FBI said. Around 3 p.m., police in Grants Pass arrested William Mitchell, 55, a man believed to be responsible for four bank robberies in Washington, including two in…

Bank surveillance photo of “Roscoe Bandit” taken during Olympia bank robbery (FBI photos) Update at 3:43 p.m.: The FBI now believes the so-called “Roscoe Bandit” robbed a bank Friday in Spokane. The robbery was reported at the Numerica Credit Union on West Riverside Avenue. Maybe they ought to call him the “Cross-Country Bandit.” Original post: The FBI says the…

Update at 10:26 a.m.: The shelter-in-place alerts for Laurelhurst and Bryant elementary schools have been lifted, according to a school district tweet. Original post: Students in two Seattle elementary schools are in shelter-in-place mode after a nearby bank was robbed, according to Seattle Public Schools. Police said a man who displayed a handgun robbed a Key Bank branch in the 4700 block of 25th…