California man sentenced in Hazel Dell bank robbery, attempting to steal from ilani

A California man was sentenced Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court to 33 months in prison for robbing a Hazel Dell branch of Chase Bank and attempting to steal from ilani casino in May.

Viet Tan Nguyen, 35, pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery in the case against him involving the Chase Bank. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and first-degree attempted theft in the ilani casino case from May 11.

Judge Nancy Retsinas sentenced him to 33 months in each of the cases, and he will serve the sentences concurrently.

Clark County sheriff’s deputies responded around 3:30 p.m. May 17 to Chase Bank, 200 N.E. 78th St., on reports it had been robbed, according to a probable cause affidavit.

A teller told deputies a man, later identified as Nguyen, told her to “give me your money.” She gave deputies a handwritten note Nguyen had handed her that read in part, “Any disruption will result in many death because of your defiance,” court records say.

Deputies later determined Nguyen made off with $1,400, the affidavit states.

Investigators shared several still images of the suspect from the bank’s surveillance video. The Cowlitz Tribal Police Department identified the suspect from the surveillance video as Nguyen, the same person who, armed with a knife, attempted to steal black boxes full of money from ilani six days earlier, according to the affidavit.