Following a bank robbery and high-speed pursuit Tuesday, Vancouver police officers arrested a man suspected of being the “Sporty Spice bandit,” who is sought by the FBI in the robbery of two banks in Oregon earlier this month.
Shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday, a man wearing a face covering walked into the Wells Fargo branch at 8211 N.E. Vancouver Mall Drive. He displayed a gun and robbed the bank of an undisclosed amount of money, Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said.
The suspect was then seen getting into a silver SUV and fleeing the area, Kapp said.
The vehicle traveled east on state Highway 500, north on 117th and west on 78th Street, and was seen going into oncoming lanes, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian. At one point, the suspect’s vehicle reached speeds of 100 mph and hit at least one vehicle, Kapp said, and possibly a second.
The vehicle then went south on Northeast 47th Avenue and crashed in a building at 4707 N. E. Minnehaha St. The man then fled on foot, Kapp said.
With help of Clark County sheriff’s deputies, including two K-9s, Vancouver police surrounded the area and searched for the suspect, Kapp said. He was found and detained about an hour later, just south of the crash site, she said.
A police dog bit the suspect, Kapp said, so he was taken to a hospital for evaluation of his injuries. He will be booked into the Clark County Jail, at which point the suspect’s name and recommended charges will be released.
During the search Truman and Minnehaha elementary schools were put on lockdown.
The Vancouver Police Department asked any potential victims in the case to call 360-487-7355.
The FBI said the same man is suspected to have robbed a Key Bank branch in Tigard, Ore., on June 2 and another Key Bank in Wilsonville, Ore., on June 7.
In the Tigard robbery, the suspect wielded a handgun, the FBI said, and he racked the slide and pointed it at three different tellers while demanding cash. No weapons were seen or implied in the Wilsonville robbery.
Investigators nicknamed the robber the Sporty Spice bandit after his athletic apparel. The FBI said he wore an Under Armor-brand black jacket and what appears to be a khaki-colored Adidas cap in both robberies.
The man has not yet been charged with any robberies in Oregon, the bureau said, adding any charges will be made in consultation with local and federal prosecutors.
