Chief’s tip leads to arrest

The police chief in the one-cop town of Reardan, Wash., is being credited with helping the FBI on Tuesday capture the so-called “nomad bandit,” suspected of robbing at least 16 banks throughout the Northwest.

Jeremy L. Stewart told arresting agents he began robbing banks after becoming disgusted over $800 in bank fees that he was assessed for a U.S. Bank account he had a year ago while in jail for an unrelated crime.

“Stewart stated that he tried to have the fees reversed, but U.S. Bank officials would not cooperate or provide him assistance,” according to court documents charging the suspect with bank robbery.

“Stewart stated the bank fees along with $30,000 in legal fees and court costs (he incurred) is what motivated him to start robbing banks,” the documents said.

The 28-year-old was roused from sleep shortly after daybreak Tuesday at a rental house in the Lincoln County town by a team of FBI agents from Spokane and Seattle, authorities said.

He currently is charged only with robbing a U.S. Bank branch at 7307 N. Division of $2,500 on Dec. 5, the court documents say.

“He is suspected in 15 other robberies in Western Washington, Idaho and Oregon,” which occurred between December of last year and Sept. 18, said FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs in Seattle.

The names and locations of those other banks and the amounts taken aren’t in court documents, but they likely will come to light if additional charges are filed.

In most robberies, the “nomad bandit” wore a baseball cap that covered his facial features, but on Sept. 18, a surveillance camera in a Bank of America branch in Kent, Wash., captured a good picture.

“The photo was widely distributed to law enforcement officers in the state, and the chief of the one-man police department in Reardan, population 610, recognized the robber as Stewart, a local resident,” Burroughs said in a prepared statement.

The FBI statement did not identify the Reardan chief, Gary Redmond, a former Spokane County sheriff’s deputy, who couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.

His name also is blacked out of court documents, but federal authorities confirmed it was his tip that led to the arrest.

Stewart likely will face additional bank robbery charges in the Western District of Washington, Burroughs said.