Pipe-Bombing Robbers Had Big Haul At Bank
Robbers got away with substantially more than $50,000 from a Spokane Valley bank after detonating two potentially lethal pipe bombs.
The bombs exploded Monday within minutes of each other in a branch of U.S. Bank and an office of The Spokesman-Review.
A task force of 30 federal agents is investigating several possible suspects throughout the region.
No arrests have been made.
FBI regional chief Burdena Pasenelli said investigators are looking for three male suspects and possibly a fourth, female accomplice.
A woman’s voice was heard over the sheriff’s frequency falsely claiming a deputy had been shot just minutes after the first bomb exploded at the newspaper’s Valley Voice office at 13208 E. Sprague.
Sheriff’s Inspector Mike Myhre said investigators remain puzzled over the origin of that broadcast.
Remnants of the bombs and fingerprints found in a getaway van are being processed by the FBI.
The robbers intended to destroy the stolen van with a firebomb, but the device malfunctioned.
The pipe bombs were made of galvanized pipe at least a foot long and nearly 2 inches in diameter - more than big enough to kill, investigators say.
Before detonating one of the bombs in the lobby of the bank, the armed robbers got away with $50,000 from one teller and possibly that much or more from five others.
Bank surveillance cameras captured the image of one of the robbers fleeing with a large satchel full of money.
Pasenelli and bank officials aren’t disclosing the exact amount taken. If convicted, the robbers face a minimum-mandatory term of 30 years in prison for using a bomb during a bank robbery.
The FBI chief also released a copy of the two-page, typewritten note left behind by the bombers at both sites.
The note contains Biblical references to white supremacy and veiled threats to bankers who charge exorbitant interest rates.
A signature emblem at the bottom of the letter resembles a logo of a secret Aryan enforcement group known as the Phineas Priesthood.
“We don’t know what the motive for the bank robbery was,” Pasenelli said.
“We are conducting an investigation to solve a bank robbery,” she said, dodging questions about whether she believes the holdup may be the work of Aryan extremists.
, DataTimes