Lip-Reading Cop Spots Robbery Suspect

A pierced lower lip led Spokane police to a suspected bank robber Friday afternoon.

Officer Tammy Stewart spotted a man matching the bandit’s description, including the pierced lip, just minutes after the robbery of Washington Trust Bank, 27 E. Indiana.

Timothy M. Buchanan, 22, was arrested on suspicion of robbery after surrendering to police who surrounded his apartment complex at Carlisle and Astor.

Buchanan was being held without bond at the Spokane County Jail late Friday.

The robber handed a teller a note about 2 p.m., flashed a gun and fled with some money, the FBI said. Later, police recovered the money and a BB gun from an undisclosed location.

Shortly after the robbery, Stewart saw a man matching the robber’s description getting out of a car and walking into a North Astor apartment building.

She summoned other officers, and they quickly converged and told the man to surrender.

Kristina Wheeler was getting out of a car when police swarmed the area.

“The minute we drove up, they told us to get in the house,” she said. “I thought every cop in town was here.”

Neighbor Crystal Sherman was surprised by the arrest.

She said Buchanan had lived in the building for a few months and had trouble keeping a job. “He was a really good guy. He kept to himself,” she said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo