Fbi Seeks Kaiser Replacement Worker
A replacement worker at Kaiser Aluminum in Spokane is being sought by the FBI on a bank robbery charge, court documents filed Thursday say.
Thomas J. Curran served prison time for three bank robberies before being hired as a replacement for locked-out Steelworkers at two Spokane-area Kaiser plants, the court papers say.
The court documents allege Curran, 54, may be responsible for three new bank robberies after experiencing a heroin addiction relapse. Curran is a suspected drug addict.
He was reported missing last Saturday by his wife, who hadn’t seen him since June 7.
He is now charged in U.S. District Court with the June 12 robbery of a Washington Trust Bank branch at 407 N. Sullivan Road.
The bank was robbed of $1,047 by a lone male who passed a teller a note on a napkin that demanded money and said, “No tricks or funny stuff.”
Curran’s name came to the attention of the FBI two months ago after a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy learned that a man named “TJ” was planning to rob a Washington Trust branch at 310 N. Argonne on April 15, the documents say.
FBI agents conducted surveillance that day, but no robbery occurred, the documents say.
That branch of Washington Trust was robbed of $3,097 on June 9 by a robber matching Curran’s description, the court papers allege.
On Monday, a Seafirst Bank branch at 9505 E. Sprague was held up by a robber who also matches the suspect’s description, the documents say.
Curran is not charged with the robberies on June 9 or Monday, FBI officials say, but is sought for last weekend’s holdup.
The court documents say Curran worked for Kaiser Aluminum, but don’t disclose whether he was a temporary replacement at the company’s Mead or Trentwood facilities. It appears from details in the documents that Curran worked at the Trentwood plant.
More than 2,900 United Steelworkers have been locked out of five Kaiser Aluminum plants in three states since Jan. 14.