Man changes mind in middle of Fife bank heist

FIFE — Police have arrested a man who claimed he had a bomb during an attempted robbery at a Bank of America branch this morning.

A bomb squad and robot determined the man's duffel bag, left behind in the evacuated bank, contained no explosives.

It all started about 10:22 a.m., when Fife police say the man walked into the bank branch in the 5000 block of Pacific Highway East with a black duffel bag. He went up to the counter, telling a bank teller: "I have a bomb. I want the money," police officials said.

When the teller proceeded to hand over money, the man pushed it back to her and told her, "Nevermind, I don't want the money. I'll just wait for the police," officials said.

The man then sat down on a couch in the bank, said Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff's Department. When a bank manager asked the man whether it was OK for people to leave the bank, the man didn't respond, Troyer said.

Employees and customers started filing out of the bank while the man stayed inside, Troyer said.

Once the man was alone in the bank, he began mugging to the bank's security camera, waving and gesturing to it.

The man soon walked outside and surrendered to police, leaving his bag behind in the bank.

Authorities, who had evacuated several nearby businesses and blocked off parts of the highway around the bank, sent in a bomb squad, which used a robot to determine the bag contained only personal items and no explosives.

The suspect told police there was not a bomb inside the bag, but Troyer said police weren't taking any chances.

"Were not going to go by what he said," Troyer said. "Something is going on wrong with him."

The incident drew a flurry of police and media activity around the normally busy, but quiet business area.

Diane Michels, assistant manager at the Poodle Dog, a restaurant a few businesses down from the bank, said she noticed activity pick up around 10:45 a.m., she said.

"The roadblocks went up on the south side of our parking lot," she said. "Then I saw all the police cars, the helicopters, the black cars swooping by. I thought 'whoa, who, whoa.' "