Twin Star Credit Union was closed temporarily after an attempted robbery this morning.
Updated at 1:37 p.m. and 2:22 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Two subjects are in custody after holdups at two Chehalis banks this morning.
Police were called about 10 a.m. to Twin Star Credit Union on South Market Boulevard just south of 13th Street.
A deputy spotted a suspicious car nearby at the same time an alarm alerted officers to a robbery at Chase Bank, Sgt. Gary Wilson said.
“A chase, a wreck and a dog bite,” Wilson said of what followed.
A car being pursued by police wrecked on a curve along Cooks Hill Road in Centralia where one male fled on foot, according to police. Centralia Police Officer Ruben Ramirez and his dog Lobo caught him, Ramirez said.
Wilson said the subjects may be responsible for a bank robbery in Olympia last night as well, but he had not confirmed that.
Just after 11:30 a.m. Twin Star remained temporarily closed with a sheriff’s patrol car parked out front and arriving customers departing without being able to take care of business.
About eight blocks to the north, Chase Bank’s front door displayed a similar notice, apologizing for the temporary inconvenience.
Chehalis Deputy Police Chief Randy Kaut said one man had gone inside Twin Star, and implied he had a weapon by keeping his hand in his pocket.
He didn’t get any money there, Kaut said. The credit union doesn’t have cash drawers like a regular bank, he said.
A black Acura left and that’s what the deputy saw down the street, a man running out of Chase Bank and getting into a black Acura in a parking lot nearby, according to Kaut.
The robber’s routine was similar inside the second bank, except he left with cash, Kaut said.
Officers impounded the vehicle and will get a search warrant to get inside of it, he said. An officer could see money inside it, Kaut said.
The two men are being checked at Providence Centralia Hospital with minor injuries before being booked into jail, according to police.
They are Robert T. Hendrickson, 23, of Centralia and Robert J. Hughes, 32, of Tenino.
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Correction: This has been updated to correctly reflect that Chase Bank is north of Twin Star Credit Union.
Chase Bank on the 600 block of South Market Boulevard is closed after a morning robbery.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
I know from living there for 30+ years that drugs and poverty have been Lewis County’s biggest problem. I moved out of state 4 years ago and been drug free since. But when I come to visit I can find out where to score dope with one phone call if I wanted to. And I don’t ever!!! Because the same people are still doing the same shit, maybe once in a while getting picked up on a pretty substantial bust and mysteriously out on bail in a hot minute. This has been going on for many years. I can’t understand why some of the people that are known drug dealers are still able to walk the streets? Houses that are known drug houses have rush hour traffic. 99% of the crimes committed are done by meth users. Peeling houses, child abuse cases and murders. It almost seems to me with the half ass way the police pick these people up it seems like the cops want them around so they have something to do and get more money from the state for the county. Lewis county sucks get the hell out while you can.
Dumb ass wanna-bes. Drugs and crime are escalating in Centralia in my estimation. Five years ago, we weren’t hearing nearly as many sirens. Now they’re everyday at any given time. Groceries are skyrocketing… some try to deceive us by making the products smaller in smaller packaging and pass it off as if nothing ever happened. And in most cases those smaller packages even cost more too.