Robbery Suspect in Lewis County Jail

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    The 57-year-old Seattle man who is suspected of holding an employee hostage with a handgun and knife Monday morning at the Centralia TwinStar Credit Union before escaping through a window is now back in Lewis County.

    Michael Anthony Lar was booked into the Lewis County Jail Thursday afternoon after being checked out of the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He had been recovering since Monday evening when he was detained in Olympia with bullet wounds to his hip and arm.

Lar could be charged in Lewis County Superior Court as soon as this afternoon, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office. Charges could include kidnapping, assault and attempted robbery, according to police.

    The FBI had been investigating the case in connection with other Washington bank robberies, but no federal charges have been announced. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney General’s Office in Seattle said no charges had been filed as of late Thursday.

    A search warrant has also been executed on Lar’s Seattle home and a vehicle found near the scene of the crime Tuesday, said Centralia Police Officer John Panco. The search of his home was conducted on a warrant granted to the Ellensburg Police Department, which is investigating a robbery there two weeks ago. The warrant was executed Thursday night.

    Centralia Police also located another crucial piece of evidence Thursday — the semiautomatic handgun and short-blade, wood-handled knife used in the alleged robbery attempt, Panco said.

    Panco said the items were found near the credit union at a neighboring property. Centralia Police had been searching for items connected with the crime since Tuesday, utilizing bloodhounds and the police canine unit to search for clues.



    Lar was shot in the hip and arm by a Centralia Police Officer who pulled a female employee from the bank when she mouthed the words “he has a gun.” Lar allegedly fled the scene shortly after the shots were fired, though police engaged in a 4-hour standoff, believing Lar was still in the building. He allegedly held a gun to the head of  a 28-year-old bank employee and a knife to her throat after breaking in a window, according to Centralia Police.

    Lar allegedly admitted to six bank robberies after being arrested in Las Vegas in 1996. He committed heists in Olympia and Tumwater and was at one time a suspect in a robbery in Centralia during the 1990s, police have said.

    He was released from federal custody June 8, 2008, after being handed a 20-year sentence in 1997. The reason for his early release was not clear as of press time.

    DNA collected from the scene Monday is also being compared to samples collected during a January 2009 robbery at the same bank in which a suspect locked two female employees in a vault and escaped with an undetermined amount of money.

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    Eric Schwartz: (360) 807-8245