Bank Heist Suspect Just Out Of Penitentiary

A man arrested in a Friday morning bank robbery here was released the day before from the state penitentiary at Walla Walla, about 300 miles away.

The 34-year-old man caught a bus west from Walla Walla at about 3 a.m. Thursday, shortly after his release, police spokesman Elliott Woodall said,

On Friday morning, he got off the bus here, walked into a Seafirst branch about 9:30 a.m. and gave the teller a note demanding money, Woodall said.

A witness watched him walk out with the cash and into a restaurant a block away. Police found him in the restaurant bar with the bank money.