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The man was being held Friday at the Thurston County Jail on suspicion of a single count of first-degree robbery.
According to court papers:
The man entered the bank about 4 p.m., wrote a note on a deposit slip and handed it to the teller. The note read, “This is a robbery, place all the twenties on the counter.” The teller looked at the man, and he said, “It’s real. Just do it now.”
The teller opened the till drawer and placed all the $20 bills, totaling $200, on the counter. The man picked up a single bill and said, “I just want one.” He stepped back and said, “Go ahead, push your button.” He then walked outside and waited for police.
When Yelm police arrived, the man placed the bill on the ground. Officers recognized him. He told one that he “had nowhere else to go.” While being taken to jail, he said, “I did it as nice as I could. It’s a poor man’s retirement.”
During a subsequent interview, he said he was basically “down on his luck and had lost the drive.” He added, “I couldn’t off myself, so I did what I did.”
The man said he had been planning the robbery for a couple of weeks. He said “it wasn’t about the money and described his motive as “being on hard times, having been divorced, out of a decent paying job and not wanting to impose any further on family or friends.”
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465
jpawloski@theolympian.com
theolympian.com/thisjustin
@JeremyPawloski
