Man pleads not guilty in Tacoma holdup; robber said he needed money for wife’s medical bill

It wasn’t your typical bank robbery.

The man wore no disguise when he walked into a Tapco Credit Union branch in Tacoma last week. He asked only for $1,000 to pay his wife’s medical bill.

The consequence, however, is the same as a typical bank robbery.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged the 58-year-old man with first-degree robbery for the Sept. 17 holdup. He was ordered jailed in lieu of $20,000 after pleading not guilty to the charge.

The note he handed the bank teller asked for $1,000 to pay medical bills for his wife, who had been in intensive care, according to charging papers. He claimed he was armed with a gun but never showed a weapon.

Detectives identified the man days later, and he admitted to the robbery when they interviewed him.

“He explained his wife had died in March, and things had been downhill ever since then,” records show. “The defendant said he just needed the $1,000 to get by for the week, and he used most of the money to pay his rent.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 8:22 AM with the headline "Man pleads not guilty in Tacoma holdup; robber said he needed money for wife’s medical bill."