Police: Snohomish bank robbery suspect rented getaway car

Published 1:30 am Saturday, May 8, 2021

SNOHOMISH — A Sultan man renting a white 2020 Nissan Altima told the associate at Enterprise Rent-A-Car that he was going to Bellingham. He didn’t trust his minivan to make the trip.

The man, 26, got the keys around 2 p.m. April 26, using his real name and his real debit card, according to police reports filed this week in Everett District Court.

At 3:30 p.m., a man in a black baseball cap walked into a Wells Fargo about nine miles away, at 1219 13th St. in Snohomish. He approached the counter carrying a duffel bag. He asked to check his balance and slipped the teller a piece of paper. The bank worker reported it appeared to be a receipt at first. It turned out to be a note.

“Give me all your money. 100s, 50s, 20s. No dyes no trackers no alarms,” it read.

The teller looked up at the man. He repeated his demand out loud: “no dyes, no trackers, no alarms, and I’m going to need it now.”

The teller later reported she felt terrified, but did her best to remain calm, in line with her job’s training instructions. She handed him a stack of cash, according to police.

The suspect reportedly left on foot. He was described as white, in his 20s, 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-10, with hair covering the back of his neck that appeared to be blond or light brown. He wore a cap with an emblem reading, “AMSOIL.”

A Wells Fargo employee reported she last saw him walking south on Avenue D before he disappeared from view. A police dog track and drone search could not find him. Snohomish Police Department detectives put out a bulletin with a description of the suspect.

Detectives found security footage from nearby businesses. Cameras showed a man parking a newer white Nissan Altima in the Kla-Ha-Ya Village apartment building lot around 3:18 p.m., according to the court papers. He reportedly got out of the Nissan, grabbed a duffel bag from the back seat and walked along the north side of the lot, past Elle Marie Hair Studio and Starbucks. He disappeared from the camera’s view headed north on Avenue D.

The suspect reappeared in the apartment’s parking lot minutes after the robbery, with the bag. He drove north on Avenue D.

A police report noted the robbery appeared similar to a heist in Monroe in October.

Footage showed the Snohomish getaway car had Montana plates, and Snohomish police detectives could make out the first and last characters on the plate, according to the police reports. So they began tracking down cars registered in the area that could be a match.

One of them was a rental from Enterprise on Main Street in Monroe.

Records revealed the Sultan man rented the Nissan on the day of the robbery, then returned the car and the keys around 11 p.m. through a self check-in.

Court records suggest the man has no felony record in Washington.

The man didn’t go to work on April 26, his manager told police. Coworkers reported seeing a cardboard box full of free baseball caps in the breakroom. A vendor sent the box a few months earlier. Each had an emblem reading, “AMSOIL.”

His fellow employees also noted that, after his day off, the Sultan man returned to work with a new haircut.

On Sunday, police found the suspect sitting on a front porch. As he saw deputies approach him, he got up, walked toward them and was arrested for investigation.

Deputies advised him of his rights.

He reportedly replied, “I will plead the fifth today.”

Ellen Dennis: 425-339-3486; edennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen