Robbers Who Don't Have A Leg To Stand On

Police are investigating a possible connection between two men with artificial legs who were arrested after similar methods were used to rob Spokane-area banks.

"What are the chances of that?" Spokane police Sgt. Joe Peterson asked after the second man was arrested Monday in suburban Spokane Valley.

Robbers in the four recent heists targeted grocery store bank branches, did not carry weapons and wrote holdup notes on deposit slips.

Detectives found nothing to explain the similar methods of operation but were trying to determine whether the men knew each other, Peterson said.

Spokane Valley police arrested Joseph Allen Brown Jr., 42, as he walked away from a bank branch robbery Monday on two artificial legs. Police say they found the holdup note and cash taken from the bank on his person.

Bail was set at $200,000 on Tuesday for Brown, who remained in the Spokane County Jail for investigation of two counts of first-degree robbery involving the robbery Monday as well as a similar heist Nov. 20. In both of those robberies, surveillance cameras caught clear images of the robber's face, Spokane County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said.

Brown was also held on a no-bail warrant accusing him of violating probation in Snohomish County.

Charles David West, 43, who has an artificial leg, was arrested in the Nov. 27 robbery of a Spokane store bank branch. That robbery was similar to one on Nov. 22 at another Spokane store branch, but deputies said Tuesday that Brown was believed to be responsible for that one.

A woman who was with the robber on Nov. 22 said his name was Jay or Joe Brown and described him as having two artificial legs, investigators explained.

West was being held Tuesday for investigation of first-degree robbery with bail set at $100,000. Records show he was released March 15 from federal prison where he was serving a 5¼- to 6½-year sentence for robbing a supermarket bank branch in January 2000.