Man wanted for alleged Bellingham bank robbery arrested in Pierce County
A man Bellingham police were seeking for allegedly robbing the Whatcom Educational Credit Union branch on Orleans Street last week has been arrested in Pierce County.
The Bellingham Police Department tweeted at 10:05 a.m. that Leevi Allen Rosso has been arrested by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
“Thank you to our partners in the @PierceSheriff Office for capturing Mr. Rosso!” the tweet read.
Pierce County Corrections Bureau records show Rosso was booked at 2:57 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, on a Whatcom County bench warrant and a Department of Corrections warrant.
Detectives identified the bank robbery suspect as Rosso, 24, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email March 5. Rosso was wanted on probable cause for first-degree robbery, and police are actively seeking him, Murphy reported.
Rosso also is suspected in an attempted robbery at the Industrial Credit Union earlier Monday, Murphy reported.
According to Whatcom County Superior Court Documents, Rosso lives in Marysville and was already wanted on a warrant for unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful firearms, after Bellingham police found a sawed-off shotgun in the trunk of a car he was driving July 2 near Roosevelt Park.
At approximately 11:22 a.m. Monday, March 2, Rosso allegedly walked into the WECU and made demands for cash, Murphy reported. No weapons were displayed or implied, before the man ran from the bank and headed southbound on foot.
Unconfirmed radio emergency broadcasts at the time said the robber got away with money.
Police set up a perimeter in the area around the bank while they searched for the man and called for a K-9 to track him, according to broadcasts, and the robber was seen running through a dental office before heading through some trails by Lowe’s.
A Facebook post by WECU at 12:08 p.m. Monday confirmed the branch was robbed but that there were no injuries and no weapon was used.
In addition to the warrant from July, court records show Rosso has previous felony convictions for robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, identity theft, possession of stolen property, theft, assault and vehicle prowling between 2010 and 2016 in Whatcom and Snohomish counties.
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 10:21 AM.
