Camera-shy bank bandit foiled

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Police say a robber’s own fear foiled his attempt to hold up a west Yakima bank Monday morning.

When two employees at Banner Bank arrived at work at 8:45 a.m., they found a gunman in a ski mask waiting in a breakroom. He ordered them to open the vault but refused to leave the room, apparently worried about being caught on nearby surveillance cameras, police said.

Rather than comply, the employees turned and ran from the bank at 5005 Summitview Ave.

At that point, the would-be-robber also left the building — triggering an intense three-hour search that closed several blocks of busy Summitview Avenue and led to the evacuations of two day-care operations and sweeps by police through nearby orchards.

“He was afraid to be seen, to expose himself to the video cameras,” said Yakima Police Chief Sam Granato.

Late Monday, police were still searching for the would-be robber — described as a 25ish-year-old black man with an athletic build, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and 180 pounds.

Employees told police the man was holding what appeared to be a walkie-talkie or handheld scanner — but it is unknown whether he had an accomplice.

During the search, police discovered a pistol and clothing in a blue backpack on 48th Avenue across from Johnson Orchards.

Until the robber, it had been a slow morning at the orchards, across Summitview from the bank, said warehouse manager Jon Phillips.

Phillips was standing on the front porch of the warehouse when he saw a man in a black ball cap — no ski mask — with a blue backpack slung over one shoulder running down the orchard’s driveway from Summitview.

“He looked up and saw me seeing him, and slowed from a run to a walk,” Phillips said, recalling the other man’s eastbound path along the driveway toward 48th Avenue. “I didn’t think too much of it at the time.”

Until he heard the police sirens.

From 30 to 40 officers — from Yakima Police Department, Yakima County Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Patrol and the FBI — combed the area around the bank and orchards, closing streets between Summitview and Chestnut between 48th and 50th avenues.

As a precaution, nearby day-care centers and businesses went into lockdown. On Chestnut Street, police set up a mobile command center that included a camera that rose on a telescoping pole to scan over the orchards.

Investigators say they are checking with other agencies in the Pacific Northwest for cases involving similar robberies and will talk with informants, Yakima police Capt. Greg Copeland said.

The man had apparently cased the building beforehand, breaking in through a side window without setting off an alarm, Granato said.

Police have also released two bank surveillance photos of the would-be robber.

“As lousy as they are, if people know the guy or recognize the clothing, they can give us a call,” Copeland said.

In the photos, the man is wearing a pair of green sneakers. Phillips, the orchard warehouse manager, said he remembered seeing him in a pair of retro white Nike Air Force 1 shoes with light blue trim.

Authorities are also taking a closer look at the backpack.

“We’re going to be checking the items he discarded, the clothing and the pistol, for fingerprints and DNA,” Copeland said.

During the area’s lockdown, residents and others said they appreciated how police kept order.

“I’m impressed,” said Sanjay Kumar Sr., who happened to be inside his 3-year-old son’s class at Wesley Preschool, 14 N. 48th Ave., at the time of the search.

Students and staff there were bused to the nearby Holy Family Church, 5315 Tieton Drive, with a police escort.

“Everyone remained very calm because of the way it was handled,” Kumar said, adding that officers were good with the children.

A Kinder Care Learning Center across from the bank was placed in lockdown during the search.

Meanwhile mechanics at the Pennzoil Lube Center near the Summitview and 48th avenues intersection took the break in traffic as an opportunity to clean up shop.

“You don’t really get a chance to do it until closing, usually,” said manager Chilano Lopez, who was in a cheerful mood as Summitview Avenue reopened. “You gotta make light of what happened. At least nobody got hurt.”

Anyone with information on the attempted robbery is asked to call the Yakima Police Department at 509-575-6200.

• Erin Snelgrove can be reached at 509-577-7684 or esnelgrove@yakimaherald.com.

• Melissa Sánchez can be reached at 509-577-7675 or msanchez@yakimaherald.com.