Kaiser Replacement Worker Wanted In Bank Robberies

Sat., June 19, 1999

By Adam Lynn adaml@spokesman.com

A Kaiser Aluminum replacement worker suspected of three bank robberies in the past 10 days may have committed another Thursday, Spokane police said.

Witnesses told police a man walked into the Seafirst Bank branch at 30 E. Wellesley just before 6 p.m. Thursday and demanded money from a teller.

He grabbed some cash and ran, police said. The bundle of money contained a dye pack that exploded outside the bank, blowing many of the bills from the man’s hands, witnesses said.

The robber then climbed into a two-tone blue Chevrolet Blazer and drove away, police said.

FBI agents believe the bandit is Thomas J. Curran, 54.

Curran is a suspected heroin addict who was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison after being convicted in 1992 of three bank robberies in the Seattle area.

He was hired as a replacement worker by Kaiser sometime during the last nine months.

FBI agents suspect he has committed three other robberies in the Spokane area since early June.

Curran is 5 feet 10 inches tall, about 160 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. He’s described as scruffy.

Police said he still may be driving the Blazer, a 1985 model with Washington license plate 754-JCC.

While Curran has not shown a weapon in any of the robberies, police said he should be considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.

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