Bank Robbery Suspect Says He Burned Money

The man who confessed to robbing the smallest bank in the West was so cold and strung out on speed that he burned a handful of stolen money to get warm, authorities said Tuesday.

Michael Best surrendered to authorities in Colville last Friday, eight hours after allegedly robbing the Farmington State Bank in Whitman County.

The 21-year-old unemployed firefighter turned himself in after learning from family members that investigators had identified him as the robbery suspect.

“He told the FBI that he was so cold and wet after the robbery that he burned about $500,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Pam DeRusha.

Best also told the FBI that he threw away a coat and a pipe that bank employees initially thought was a sawed-off shotgun or a bomb.

Those items were recovered in Farmington by the FBI and Whitman County sheriff’s deputies.

Authorities aren’t sure where Best burned the money, but have no reason to doubt those claims, DeRusha said.

The suspect, hitchhiking out of Farmington, got a ride to Tekoa before a friend apparently gave him a ride north to Colville.

Approximately $3,900 was taken from the Farmington bank, but only $3,418 was recovered from a plastic bag that Best took with him to Colville, DeRusha said.

The bank - the smallest in 11 Western states - only has 350 depositors. Their accounts are filed by last names, not computerized account numbers.

Best appeared in U.S. District Court in Spokane on Tuesday, and Judge Frem Nielsen ordered him held without bond until he stands trial.

DeRusha successfully argued that the admitted drug addict poses a danger to the community and is a flight risk.

His fondness for methamphetamine makes his acts “impulsive and haphazard,” she said.

“This is a drug that has kept him awake for days at a time,” DeRusha told the court.

FBI Agent Mark Thundercloud, who arrested Best in Colville, said he immediately confessed to robbing the Farmington bank.

Best apparently was going to use the money to buy drugs.

“He told me that he had been using drugs for probably the majority of his life,” Thundercloud testified at the detention hearing.

Best admitted using cocaine, LSD, marijuana, crack cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine - called crank or speed.

Best has received drug treatment, but recently relapsed, the FBI agent said.

“The morning of the robbery, he said he had used methamphetamine,” Thundercloud said.

A federal defender appointed to represent Best said he should be released to stay with his girlfriend and attend the April 29 birthday of their year-old daughter.