There was some excitement in West Seattle yesterday morning.
Just after ten a.m., a fellow wearing a long, shaggy wig and a surgical mask, entered a Wells Fargo Bank branch on California Avenue, a couple of miles from our apartment. He waved a gun around, forced everyone to the floor and helped himself to the usual “undisclosed amount of cash”.
A Jeep Cherokee was waiting out front, engine running and a get-away driver behind the wheel. The gunman ran from the bank, hopped in the Jeep and they sped away, just as a dye-pack exploded inside the Jeep, but Seattle police soon spotted them headed east.
There was a chase across the West Seattle Bridge, through Capitol Hill and into downtown Seattle, but it ended at First Avenue and Spring Street, where police surrounded the vehicle and, during an exchange of gunfire, shot the robber in the neck.
What about the driver, you ask? Well, he and his buddy might have gotten away, but halfway through the chase, the driver decided he had had enough. He stopped the car, jumped out and made a mad dash into the neighborhood. The robber lost precious time, sliding behind the wheel, restarting the Jeep and driving on.
Police chased the driver down on foot; the robber, sans wig and surgical mask, is in the hospital in critical condition. If he survives, he may want to reconsider the old adage.
If you want something done right, do it yourself.
