Hit and run bank robber headed south - robbed bank in Milton

Homestreet Bank robber. Photo courtesy MLTNews.com

By Diane Hettrick, Editor ShorelineAreaNews

It seemed a bit of a coincidence that an area which rarely has bank robberies had two in a week within a quarter mile of each other.

First, our friend Dustin DeKoekkoek at the MLTNews posted an article with a surveillance photo of the man who robbed the Homestreet Bank at 22001 66th Ave W in Mountlake Terrace. 

Shoreline Ballinger Whidbey Bank robber.
Photo courtesy KCSO

Before I had time to post that story, the robber hit the Ballinger Branch of the Whidbey Island Bank, which is just two blocks from Mountlake Terrace at 20333 Ballinger Way NE.

Before King County Sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart could distribute the photos from the Whidbey Bank, the same robber hit a bank in Milton, which is on the King - Pierce county line.  He was there just 90 minutes after the Shoreline robbery.

After looking at the photos from all three banks, I offered to eat my hat if it were not the same robber in all three cases. Urquhart agreed, and said he would send the MLTNews article to the King County detectives handling the case.

Milton bank robber.
Photo courtesy KCSO.

Both the MLT bank and the Shoreline bank are conveniently close to the freeway entrance.

However, there was a space of eight days between the two robberies when he may have been in the area.

If you have any information, contact King County Sheriff's Office at 206-296-3311 (24 hours) or 9-1-1.