Robbery Suspect Surrenders State Patrol Cadet Follows Man After Seeing Bank Heist

A bank robbery suspect was taken into custody Thursday after a 3-1/2-hour standoff with sheriff’s deputies, State Patrol officers and FBI agents at his Newman Lake home.

Charles David West, 37, is suspected of robbing the U.S. Bank branch inside the Albertson’s supermarket at Liberty Lake on Thursday morning.

A Washington State Patrol cadet who happened to be inside the bank witnessed the 9:30 a.m. robbery. The cadet, who was unarmed but dressed in full uniform, followed the man to a home at 25318 E. Wabash Circle.

During the ensuing standoff, neighbors were warned to stay inside or evacuate because of worries that the man was armed, perhaps with an automatic weapon. Children at nearby East Farms Elementary also were kept indoors.

However, West was unarmed when he finally surrendered at 1:30 p.m.

His wife, Linda West, who arrived on the scene shortly after the standoff began, told sheriff’s deputies that she did not know of any weapons in the home and did not believe her husband was armed.

On Thursday morning, a robber entered the bank branch inside the Liberty Lake supermarket wearing a black trench coat and a stocking cap, with a gray scarf covering his face. He demanded money from a teller but did not show or say he had a weapon, Sheriff’s spokesman David Reagan said. He left with an undisclosed amount of cash.

State Patrol cadet Anthony Scarano witnessed the incident. After confirming with a bank teller that a robbery had occurred, Scarano called for reinforcements and then followed the suspect in a marked patrol car.

Scarano did not attempt to stop or arrest the suspect.

As a cadet, Scarano has not yet completed the training to become a trooper, State Patrol Lt. Bruce Clark said.

“He did exactly what he was supposed to do,” Clark said.

While following the robbery suspect, Scarano reported that the suspect threw money and a scarf from his car near the Harvard Road Bridge. The money and scarf were recovered.

The suspect entered the home on East Wabash Circle at 9:55 a.m. He refused to come out as sheriff’s deputies, state troopers and FBI agents surrounded the house and sealed off the area.

West briefly stepped onto a second-story porch at around 11:30 a.m. and waved to his wife, who was standing at the corner with law officers.

He came out of the house voluntarily at 1:30 p.m., shortly after the SWAT team arrived. He did not resist arrest.

Negotiators had been speaking to West by telephone shortly before he surrendered.

Neighbors and family members said West moved into the gray two-story house on East Wabash Circle about six years ago. Linda West had lived in the home for several years before that.

Thomas Smith, Linda West’s brother, described Charles West as a man who has lived hard. West lost a leg years ago in a motorcycle accident.

He has had brushes with the law and has had substance abuse problems, said Smith, who has lived with his sister and brother-in-law for the past three months.

“He’s done a lot of dumb things,” Smith said.

That said, Smith insisted his brother-in-law was not a dangerous person.

“He’s not a violent person. They could just walk in there and get him. He likes playing this game. This is all a big game to him,” Smith said.

West was charged with second-degree robbery and booked into the Spokane County Jail.