NORTH BEND, Washington — A man who robbed a North Bend bank last week may be the same man detectives in King County and California have dubbed the "AK-47 Bandit," the King County Sheriff's Office said Friday.
The North Bend robbery happened at about 6 p.m. on July 6. A man in a black ski mask walked into Chase Bank, armed with an AK-style rifle that had a drum magazine attached, police said. He spoke with a deep, loud voice, with no obvious accent, and threatened to shoot the tellers if they didn't hurry in handing over the money.
Police said he got away with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The man parked his vehicle in plain view in front of the bank and didn't make any attempt to hide it, police said. The vehicle is described as reddish-orange Jeep (possibly a Liberty or Patriot) that's very dirty and dusty. It may have out-of-state plates with a prominent blue stripe across the top of the plates. The spare tire was rear-mounted and the cover for it may have a multi-colored design.
The man is considered armed and dangerous.
Detectives said the robbery was similar to a series of robberies that happened in California earlier this year. Those cases remain unsolved. Police said the man wanted in connection with those robberies shot a Chino police officer who responded to one of the scenes.
Anyone with any information is asked to call King County Sheriff's Office Det. Mike Mellis at 206-263-2086 or dial 911.
KIRO
