by Tahlia Ganser
Robbery suspect
* Updated with photo *
Investigators continue to search for the suspect in a La Conner bank robbery last month, who is also the suspect in a similar Des Moines bank robbery Monday.
The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office said investigators are working to identify the man and say he was likely working with at least one other person in a series of robberies along Interstate 5.
He was seen as late as Thursday afternoon casing banks or looking for surveillance in Lynnwood, Brier and Martha Lake, according to a Sheriff’s Office press release.
The man is possibly associated with a black or dark-colored Volvo-like boxy station wagon. Authorities ask anyone with information to call Detective Tobim Meyer at 360-336-9450.
The Washington Federal Bank in La Conner was robbed Nov. 25. Bank employees said that a man came in wearing a dark-colored, full-face motorcycle helmet with a clear visor pushed up. He had dark-rimmed reading type glasses and an orange windbreaker. He was described as about 35 years old with dark stubble on his face. He was shorter than 5-foot-11-inches tall and had a slender to medium build.
The man put a blue backpack on the counter and demanded money from the teller. No weapon was displayed, and he fled on foot. Deputies found a helmet, empty backpack and an orange coat about one block from the bank. A canine officer indicated the robber likely got into a car at that location.
The FBI is assisting in the investigation.
Tahlia Ganser can be reached at 360-416-2148 or at .
