A man has been charged with first degree robbery after he allegedly robbed a bank in Innis Arden and fled the scene in a stolen car.
Robert William Langstead, 56, was charged with first-degree robbery for allegedly robbing the City Bank branch in Innis Arden on April 20. Langstead is being held in King County Jail on $2 million bail after being charged with three other robberies occurring before the Innis Arden robbery.
Langstead pleaded not guilty at a May 2 arraignment, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecutor’s office. He will be back in court on May 16 for a pretrial hearing.
Police reports indicate that at 1 p.m. on April 20, Langstead entered the City Bank branch in Innis Arden, on Eighth Avenue NW. He then approached the bank teller and when handing her a savings bond slip, flipped it over to reveal a demand note. The note indicated the teller was to put money in a bag, without a dye pack. After being handed a bag with $1,164, Langstead fled the bank.
A bank customer, parked near the front door of the bank, observed Langstead running out of the building and saw an employee locking the doors. The customer then followed Langstead in his car, obtaining his license number. The customer then returned to the bank and contacted an employee at the drive thru window, providing a license number to pass on to police.
A description of the vehicle, a 1994 turquoise Mercury Cougar, was broadcast via police radio with the license number. A Shoreline deputy saw the vehicle at 205th and Aurora Avenue N. A brief pursuit ensued and Langstead was finally pulled over.
It was discovered that the car Langstead was driving was stolen from a car dealership in the Lake City area while on a test drive. According to the police reports, Langstead was also on heroin.
Langstead was on a “mini crime spree,” said Shoreline Police Captain Dan Pingrey.
“He was stealing and robbing to buy drugs; to keep up his habit.” Pingrey said. “It was one of those bad circles.”
No one was injured in any of the incidents, he said, and no actual weapons were seen or observed, just implied.
According to police documents, any of the charges in the case would, upon conviction, present a “third strike” for the defendant, resulting in lifetime confinement. The defendant had been back in the community for only two months at the time of the incidents, after having been released from prison in February 2006.
The defendant has 11 convictions for robbery, three convictions for taking a motor vehicle without permission, and convictions for robbery, attempting to elude, possessing stolen property and forgery.
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