Everett’s ‘Cyborg Bandit’ gets nearly 9 years, must repay $75K

EVERETT — A serial bank robber with 30 holdups to his name has been sent to state prison.

Anthony Hathaway, now 47, was living in Everett during a wave of bank robberies in Snohomish and King counties in 2013 and 2014. Authorities dubbed him the “Cyborg Bandit” before he switched disguises and became the “Elephant Man Bandit.”

He averaged more than two robberies a month during the year it took authorities to catch up with him. His prolific ways may have set a record for the Seattle area, according to an FBI analysis published Tuesday.

Hathaway was sentenced Jan. 15 in King County to nearly nine years in prison. The sentence works out to about three and a half months per robbery. He also was ordered to repay all the money he stole, roughly $75,700.

Hathaway was facing trials in King and Snohomish counties before he pleaded guilty Dec. 23 to four counts of first-degree robbery and a felony theft, all state charges.

His Snohomish County charges were covered under that plea, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Bob Langbehn said Wednesday. “He’s still responsible for restitution on all of the cases,” Langbehn said.

Hathaway became addicted to OxyContin after being prescribed the drug after an injury, according to the FBI report. He eventually turned to heroin, a common outcome for abusers of prescription painkillers.

Hathaway also gambled some of the proceeds. Surveillance video from local casinos showed him spending thousands of dollars, often wearing the same clothes seen in the robberies.

His story is “surprising in some ways but all too familiar in others,” the FBI said in its report. Bank robbery is considered a crime of last resort. It carries a high chance of arrest and serious prison time compared to the potential payoff.

“Occasionally you get a thrill seeker or a truly violent individual, but most people who rob banks are supporting an addiction of some kind — drugs or gambling — and they are desperate,” said Len Carver, a Seattle police detective who serves on the FBI’s Seattle Safe Streets Task Force.

The robberies were reported between February 2013 and February 2014, and some banks were hit multiple times. At least 17 of the holdups happened in Snohomish County, including Bothell, Everett, Lynnwood, Marysville, Mill Creek and Mukilteo.

In the beginning, Hathaway wore over his face a piece of metallic fabric that vaguely resembled chain mail. The look of the disguise was compared to cyborgs, the part-human, part-machine creations of science fiction. That earned him the name the “Cyborg Bandit.”

The moniker also was in part based on the Cylons, a race of creatures on the show, “Battlestar Galactica.”

“The cloth is more akin to a Cylon appearance, but the cyborg reference may resonate with a wider population,” the FBI wrote in a 2013 news release. “Thanks for your understanding about our poetic license, and please forgive us, BSG fans.”

Nonetheless, the cyborg/Cylon disguise generated lots of news stories. In response, Hathaway began draping his head in a shirt with holes cut out for his eyes.

That led to him being called the “Elephant Man Bandit,” after a movie character with a disfigured face. Latex gloves were another part of his trademark.

Hathaway often threatened tellers, saying he had a weapon without brandishing one. He sometimes jumped over the counter and collected the cash himself from the bank drawers. He knew how to pick out the packs of dye meant to trip up robbers.

A break in the case came Feb. 4, 2014, in Lynnwood. Surveillance video revealed Hathaway’s getaway vehicle, a light blue Honda Odyssey. An Everett police officer spotted the minivan that same week.

Hathaway was arrested later that month wearing a mask outside a bank he had just robbed in Seattle. He had $2,310 in his one pocket.

He is being held at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton. Offenders typically are sent there awaiting their prison assignments.

Hathaway was banned for life from all of the banks he hit. He had no previous felonies.

Another serial bank robber from Everett, Christian N. Franzwa, 57, who was known as “Beardo,” was arrested Feb. 12. He has been charged in Snohomish County district courts with multiple counts of robbery. Charges are expected to follow in Superior Court.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.