Vancouver police arrest man suspected in string of bank robberies

Vancouver police arrested a man Saturday in connection with a string of area bank robberies.

Bryan Russell Vaughan Duke, 44, was booked into the Clark County Jail on suspicion of three counts of first-degree robbery. Additional charges are likely, according to a Vancouver Police Department news release.

Vancouver police with the assistance of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the Battle Ground Police Department served a search warrant at a Battle Ground residence related to a series of bank robbery investigations in Vancouver, Clark County and the Portland area.

Vaughan Duke was subsequently arrested.

He is accused in three Vancouver bank robberies: Sept. 13 at the Umpqua Bank branch at 11515 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd.; Oct. 17 at the Umpqua Bank branch at 10705 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd.; and Oct. 25 at the U.S. Bank branch at 11621 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd., according to Vancouver police.

Last week, Clark County sheriff’s detectives arrested Andrew Bekman, 31, and Amira Askew, 28, on suspicion of first-degree robbery. The pair are suspects in more than 10 bank robberies in Washington and Oregon dating to June, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

Authorities did not say if all three suspects are connected.