OLYMPIA – Mike Wood and his wife were just stopping by the credit union when they saw a man run out the door with another man close behind. They quickly realized they were watching a robbery in progress and decided to join the chase.
When they reached the fleeing man, Wood jumped out of the car, grabbed the man’s arm and twisted it behind his back. Then he reached his other arm around the man’s neck and wrestled him to the ground.
Wood’s quick action and the skills he picked up watching his 15-year-old son, Harrison, in martial arts class helped him nab the man on Tuesday.
“It was moral instincts. It was just wrong,” said Wood, 44, whose family has belonged to Sound Credit Union for 10 years. “I just wasn’t going to let him get away with it. Plus, I was a member of the bank, and that was my money he was stealing, too.”
Wood and credit union branch manager Chad Wilcox sat on top of the man while they waited for police.
Garrett W. Lindermann, 42, was booked into the Thurston County Jail for investigation of first-degree robbery. Lindermann has two previous robbery convictions and recently served a 10-year prison sentence.
Police said the chase started at 10:45 a.m. after a man stormed into the credit union while holding a lunch cooler that he said contained a bomb. He allegedly demanded money from the teller and darted out the front door, Olympia police reported.
His threat to blow him up did not deter Wood, a dump truck driver and retired Army sergeant.
Wilcox said he gave chase in hopes of recording a license plate number for police, but after seeing Wood go after the man, he changed his plan.
“It’s not Sound’s policy … and it probably wasn’t the most prudent thing to do,” Wilcox said. “It was one of those instinct things. You don’t know how you’re going to react until it happens.”
Police said no bomb or other weapons were found. If Lindermann is charged and convicted, he could face life imprisonment under Washington’s three strikes law for repeat violent offenders.
Police caution bystanders not to do anything more than act as good witnesses if they see a similar situation unfold, said police Cmdr. Tor Bjornstad.
Wood said he’s happy no one got hurt.
“The more time you have to think about it, the more you realize how stupid it was,” he said.
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