Couple arrested in Deer Park in connection to Spokane bank robberies

A team of detectives and patrol officers converged on a Deer Park gas station Thursday evening and arrested a couple suspected of carrying out two bank robberies late last month in Spokane.

Kristopher M. Turner, 30, and Shanna M. Edwards, 32, were arrested without incident shortly before 5 p.m. in the parking lot of the Bob Mart gas station on West Crawford Street, according to a news release from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. A SWAT team later searched a residence in the 1800 block of West Burroughs Road belonging to Edwards’ family.

Police believe Turner is responsible for at least two of three bank robberies that took place in Spokane last month. The Banner Bank on North Division Street was robbed on May 26, and the Inland Northwest Bank on West Francis Avenue was robbed on May 31. In both cases, the suspect claimed to have a gun and was described as a “lone white male” similar in appearance to Turner.

In the Banner Bank robbery, Turner allegedly fled on foot with $1,000 to $1,500. In the INB robbery, he told the teller, “Give me your $100s, $50s and $20s,” according to court documents. The teller told police she obliged and handed the robber wads of cash – including a roll of $20 bills containing a dye pack, which “exploded when the suspect reached an apartment complex just north of the bank,” court records say.

Police found the money, a blond hair and the suspect’s sunglasses – all covered in dye – north of the bank. But the suspect escaped in what witnesses described as a greenish-blue Buick LeSabre. Investigators believe Edwards was the getaway driver.

One witness told police she saw the suspect “throw down what she thought was a smoke bomb” in some bushes at the apartment complex, court records say. Another witness “didn’t see the suspect but saw the smoke.”

Court records say Edwards’ family “is well known to local law enforcement, especially officers working the Deer Park area.” A Sheriff’s Office helicopter flying over their property captured photos showing the Buick LeSabre described in the INB robbery.

Detectives received two tips leading to Turner after citizens saw photos of him in news media, court records say. Since 2006, he has racked up convictions for robbery, burglary, assault, driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, vehicle theft and retail theft. He was convicted of robbing the Bank of America on West Wellesley Avenue in 2008.

Turner now faces two counts of first-degree robbery. Edwards faces one count for allegedly serving as an accomplice. Both are being held in the Spokane County jail, and Edwards’ bond was set at $75,000.

The Banner Bank on West Third Avenue was robbed on June 1, but Deputy Mark Gregory said investigators haven’t connected that crime to Turner or Edwards.