Alleged Wash. inner tube bandit charged federally

The FBI says a tip from a homeless man led them to a bandit who held up an armored car in Monroe and escaped down a river on an inner tube.

Anthony Curcio of Lake Stevens was arrested and charged in U.S. District Court on Tuesday with one count of interfering with commerce. Investigators say he sprayed an armored car guard in the face with pepper spray on Sept. 30, made off with $400,000, then hopped on a yellow inner tube and escaped down Woods Creek.

The FBI says it cracked the case when agents learned that about two weeks before the robbery, a homeless man called 911 to report that he found a can of Mace, a wig and a two-way radio behind a trash bin nearby. When a man came to retrieve the items, the homeless man wrote down the license plate number of his car.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.