Police: Parking officer captures armed bank robber

SEATTLE — A suspected bank robber was arrested Friday morning after police say he robbed a Walls Fargo bank on Broadway and another Wells Fargo in the University District.

About 9 a.m., police were told a man armed with two large knives walked into a bank in the 4100 block of University Way N.E. and demanded cash, department spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee said in a statement. Witnesses said the man stuffed the money in his shirt and then casually walked out of the bank and down the street, he said.

Police searched for the man, whose featured include a facial tattoo, but couldn’t find him. Police were told by a Metro driver that the man may have left on a bus.

“About two hours later, at 11:16 AM, police received another report of a bank robbery on Capitol Hill, near Broadway and East Republican Street,” Spangenthal-Lee said. “Again, bank employees said a man — described as a white male in his 20s, about 6’0, with a facial tattoo — had walked into the bank, brandished a knife and demanded money.”

A parking enforcement officer saw him walking near Mercer Street and Bellevue Ave Easy and took him into custody, police said. Officers said they recovered two knives.

The suspect is expected to have a bail hearing Saturday morning.

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