Fbi Study Of Robberies Leads To ‘Hollywood’ Ending Holdup Man Killed Himself As Police Closed In

Careful study of bank heists staged by a robber the FBI called “Hollywood” helped a police task force respond quickly when the bandit struck this week, an FBI agent said Friday.

After a chase, shootout and nearly 24 hours on the run, agents say “Hollywood” killed himself as police closed in.

William Scott Scurlock, who died of a gunshot wound to the head Thursday in a 10-foot camper parked in a back yard, had been charged by warrant with last Wednesday’s $1 million robbery of a Seafirst Bank branch in north Seattle.

The FBI said Friday that Scurlock, nicknamed “Hollywood” because of his fondness for heavy pancake makeup and disguises, was responsible for 15 holdups in the Seattle area and another two in the Portland area over four years.

Wednesday’s million-dollar heist - all recovered after police chased and captured two of Scurlock’s accused accomplices Wednesday - added to the robber’s “considerable” career bankroll, FBI regional chief Burdena Pasenelli said Friday.

She refused to put a figure on the total haul but declared the number of robberies and amounts taken made him “one of the most prolific bank robbers in the history of the United States.”

His success also made him a top priority with the Puget Sound Violent Crimes Task Force.

“Why was he the No. 1 priority? Because of the amount of money that had been stolen and the great threat that he represented to the public - namely the people inside those banks - and the police officers,” Pasenelli told a news conference.

“We looked at every single robbery that Hollywood had committed, we looked at the banks that were involved, the time of the day, all the vehicles that he used and put together all the information that we had,” Pasenelli said.

What emerged was a pattern that indicated that Hollywood would strike on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday in the northeast part of Seattle, she said. He generally favored Seafirst, U.S. Bank and First Interstate branches.

In August, Seattle police, the FBI and task force members began staking out the target areas.

Their efforts paid off when Scurlock, 41, and two other men showed up shortly before closing time Wednesday at the Seafirst branch. A bank employee recognized one of the robbers as “Hollywood” from photographs taken during previous heists, Pasenelli said. The employee activated a silent alarm - twice.

Seattle police and task force members were within several miles of the bank and responded quickly enough to chase the robbers.

After police attempted to stop the vehicle, the white van pulled into a north Seattle yard and three men jumped out. Two exchanged gunfire with police and were wounded and captured. The third man - Scurlock - escaped on foot and eluded a police search.

The robbery loot, several automatic weapons, masks and disguises were recovered from the van.

On Thursday afternoon, two brothers visiting their 85-year-old mother for Thanksgiving dinner went to check the camper in her back yard because she was concerned about the search for the robber. They spotted a man inside and called police.

When police responded, witnesses said, about four shots came from the camper and police responded by firing at least 25 rounds into the camper.

But Assistant Police Chief Harv Ferguson said Friday that Scurlock fired only one shot, apparently into his head.

After waiting several hours and lobbing two rounds of tear gas into the camper, police entered to find Scurlock’s body with a 9mm semiautomatic gun in his hand, Ferguson said.

Steve Meyers, 46, of New Orleans, and Mark Biggins, 42, from the Oxnard, Calif., area, also have been charged in Wednesday’s robbery, Pasenelli said. They remain hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center.