Community Police & Fire

Suspect in Gig Harbor bank robbery arrested

Gig Harbor police on Monday arrested a 27-year-old man suspected of robbing several Pierce County banks, including one in Gig Harbor. He is being held on suspicion of first-degree robbery and attempted first-degree robbery, according to Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey.

Following questioning by Gig Harbor police, the suspect was transferred to the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma for arraignment Wednesday.

The suspect was identified with the help of new video enhancement tools the department acquired recently that enabled investigators to zero in on specific identifying marks such as tattoos, Busey said.

With assistance from @PierceSheriff, our detectives have this subject in custody. We believe that he is responsible for as many as four armed robberies in #GigHarbor, Pierce County, and Tacoma. pic.twitter.com/QMuWr4Ebmy

— Gig Harbor Police (@GigHarborPolice) April 11, 2022

The suspect was taken into custody near 176th Street and 44th Avenue in the Tacoma area with the assistance of Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies. He appeared to be living in a stolen vehicle, and police found a loaded handgun in the car.

Police believe the suspect robbed the Umpqua Bank branch on 56th Street in Gig Harbor late last month.

“We got many, many tips on this and had several suspects,” Busey said. “In the end, it was super detective work by our Gig Harbor team — Detective Sgt. (Tray) Federici and Detective (Patrick) Sam.”

A Gig Harbor Police Department cruiser Gig Harbor police