Eric Schwartz Commentary: The Fascinating Case of a Career Criminal

Posted

Michael Anthony Lar is a criminal, and I’ve never been one to admire criminality.

I must admit, though, that I’ve had a fascination with the former Montana man since being thrust into the scene of his handiwork on a clear January morning in 2010. 

I’ve never spoken to Lar, but he’s probably heard my voice. 

If his account is to be believed, he was hiding in bushes outside a Centralia credit union — likely resisting the natural reflex to writhe while in intense pain — as I asked questions of investigators at the scene of the robbery attempt.

Unbeknownst to responders, he had fled out a window after being shot twice by a Centralia police officer who pulled a hostage to safety during a confrontation at the front door.

During a prolonged standoff that followed outside TwinStar Credit Union, where police believed he was still inside, Lar remained hidden in the shrubbery for hours. 

Not until nightfall did he rise from the hedge, smarting from two bullet wounds, to hail a cab and ride to Olympia.

His attempt to seek medical care led to his undoing, as a suspicious caller tipped off authorities, who swooped in to place him in cuffs. 

He’s now headed back to Lewis County after initially being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. That sentence came as a result of the so-called three strikes rule. Law was previously convicted of bank robberies in 1985 and 1997, meaning the 2010 conviction crossed the plate as a strikeout pitch.

An appeals court has determined the 1985 conviction did not fit the parameters of the type of offense needed to issue a life sentence. 

What’s interesting to consider is the fact that the three robberies in question are almost certainly not the only ones attempted by Lar. 

How many robberies had the man committed between those convictions?

The answer is almost certainly at least one, and likely many, many more.

After the 2010 trial, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office said DNA linked Lar to a heist at the same Centralia credit union in 2009. 

More than $300,000 was successfully taken. 

Lar was charged, but the case was quietly dismissed months later. We’re still waiting to hear why. 



In both Centralia incidents, the career criminal used similar tactics. 

According to interviews with authorities five years ago, his approach went something like this:

Lar would target banks that had offices with windows along the walls. He’d use a rock to break a window in the time before the robbery, likely standing nearby to see if an alarm would bring law enforcement. 

If no police arrived, Lar would safely assume there were no alarms in the offices — only the banking areas of the facility. 

Lar would climb in through the broken window, wait for the first employee to arrive and deactivate the other alarms and then take him or her hostage, demanding that they open the safe.

That’s believed to be how he stole such a massive amount of money in 2009, and likely why he returned just one year later in search of an equal payload. 

In court documents, investigators surmised that Lar was driven by a gambling addiction.

What he didn’t know in 2010 was that the credit union had implemented a new policy after the previous robbery. Two employees were now to arrive at the same time, with one entering first to call to the other and report if the bank was safe.

When the first employee failed to summon her coworker in 2010, the police were called, setting in motion the events that would eventually lead to a lifetime prison sentence. 

It remains to be seen what his new punishment will be. 

Lar is not cut from the same cloth as the man who attempted to escape police on a BMX bicycle after robbing a bank in Chehalis this year. 

He seems to be the type of offender unable or unwilling to change his ways. 

I sincerely hope the justice system can deal punishment that continues to prevent the actions of a fascinating, but ultimately destructive, criminal. 

•••

Eric Schwartz is the editor of The Chronicle.